Can Robot Lawn Mowers Cut Grass Along the Edges?
2025-06-23
What’s your priority when renting or buying a home? 50% of Brits believe a well-designed garden is important. As robot lawn mowers get popular, one common concern remains: uncut grass along the borders. Cutting edges can be tricky when our gardens are framed with stones, concrete, or creative items like recycled logs and woven branches. Raised edges, hard surfaces, uneven terrain, and dense vegetation can block the mower’s path or even cause damage. So, can robot lawn mowers really handle edge cutting?
Can Robot Lawn Mowers Cut Grass Along the Edges?
Yes, robot lawn mowers can cut close to the edges. High-end models with offset blades or edge-cutting technology give better coverage and can even ride along passable borders for a cleaner finish. Other models can manage close cuts, but may struggle near walls or flowerbeds due to their blade position and built-in safety margins.
The most common challenges when cutting grass along the edges include:
Blade Positioning
Most robot mowers use centrally mounted blades to stay balanced and safe; however, this limits how close they can cut to edges. The distance between the blade and the outer edge of the mower creates a gap, often leaving “strips of uncut grass”, i.e., a strip of uncut grass, along borders that require manual trimming.
Safety Gaps
To prevent collisions, robot mowers maintain a safety gap between the blade and nearby objects. On newer models like the GOAT O800 RTK, this distance can be minimized to just 1.97 inches. For others, the gap is determined by how the boundary wire is installed, which often causes the mower to stop short of fences or walls.
Obstacles
Robot mowers like GOAT robot lawn mowers are equipped with obstacle avoidance sensors, which can be an issue when navigating uneven borders or areas with dense vegetation, rocks, or decorations. These are usually identified as hazards, causing the mower to steer away. Raised edges or loose stones can also block the wheels.
Lack of Edge Mode
Not all mowers include a dedicated edge-cutting mode that finds the boundary by distinguishing grass from surrounding surfaces like sand or flowerbeds. Without this feature, the machine may push past the boundary, if it’s passable, or get stuck and repeatedly bump into walls or barriers.
Design of Lawn Borders
Lawns bordered with scattered rocks or rough-hewn stones can make the edge difficult to find. If the device is unable to go over these surfaces, it may miss trimming the grass near the edge, leaving behind uneven or uncut sections.
How to Choose a Robot Mower for Edge Cutting?
If edge cutting matters to you, it’s worth looking for a robot mower with the right hardware and software, including smart blade design, edge-cutting technology, and reliable navigation. A compact design helps with tight corners, while slope-climbing ability accommodates uneven terrain. These features work together to cut closer to borders and save you from follow-up trimming.
Here are the key features to look for:
Blade System
In contrast to a centrally-located design, offset blades can cut nearer to the edges of the lawn. The GOAT O800 can receive up to 45 satellites in an 80% expanded signal frequency band, providing 4 times the connection speed and up to 130%¹ improved stability.
Edge Cutting Technologies
Look for edge mode, such as GOAT’s TruEdge Consistent Edge Mowing, that delivers precise cut-to-edge trimming. Powered by 3D-ToF and AI cameras, it accurately detects the boundary and maximizes blade-to-edge coverage. Alternatively, it rides on passable borders with zero-edge cutting.
Smart Navigation & Obstacle Detection
Advanced Mowers with LiDAR, AI cameras, or GPS mapping can better detect edges and work around objects like logs. For example, the pioneering Dual-LiDAR Navigation System in GOAT O800 RTK builds a highly precise 3D depth map, while the AIVI 3D Obstacle Avoidance promptly identifies and avoids over 200 types of obstacles, optimizing the coverage.
Customisable Boundary Settings
Whether your mower uses boundary wires or virtual boundaries through an app, it should let you fine-tune the cutting area. Boundary wires create a magnetic field that the device's sensors detect to stay within the set zone. Newer models like GOAT use LiDAR and Real Time Kinematics (RTK) for mapping, allowing you to customize settings like no-go zones directly in the app.
Compact Design
Compared to traditional models like ride-on mowers, smart mowers with a slim design can easily reach tighter spots and pass through narrow passages between landscape features. If your garden has curved edges or decorative elements that limit space around the borders, check the dimensions and make sure your smart device can handle it.
All-Terrain Mobility
In many UK cities like Sheffield and Bristol, gardens are not perfectly flat. In this case, look for the slope climbing ability of a mower, particularly the all-terrain wheels and strong motors, and make sure it can climb slopes near the borders.
Base Station Placement
For models using RTK navigation, where you place the base station affects how the mower navigates the borders. The base station sends a strong and stable signal to guide the device along the edges; placing it behind walls or too far from the other end of the lawn may impact its accuracy.
3 Best GOAT Robot Lawn Mowers for Edge Cutting
GOAT O800 RTK
As a premium model, the GOAT O800 RTK provides precise trimming along borders with its TruEdge system. This is enhanced by LELS™, LiDAR-Enhanced RTK Navigation, 3D-ToF LiDAR sensor and AI camera that help it follow complex lawn shapes, even in shaded areas. It climbs slopes up to 24° and crosses barriers up to 1.18 inches for a perfect edge cut.
Shop GOAT O800 RTK NowGOAT O500 Panorama
GOAT O500 Panorama's TruEdge system supports cut-to-edge trimming on passable borders, and unpassable ones with a 1.97-inch blade-to-edge distance. AIVI 3D Obstacle Avoidance keeps it safe when cutting close to objects like rocks and fences. With intelligent U-shaped path planning, this robot lawn mower adapts to your garden’s layout and keeps borders neat.
Shop GOAT O500 Panorama NowGOAT G1-800
With its compact design, the GOAT G1-800 can trim narrow borders as tight as 2.3 feet2 and maneuver sharp corners. It uses 3D-ToF and AI cameras through TruEdge technology for precise edge cutting. The wire-free setup makes mapping quick and simple, so you can relax while reviewing the boundary settings through the ECOVACS HOME app.
Shop GOAT G1-800 NowFAQ
Can robot mowers mow in the rain?
Yes, robot mowers with waterproof designs can operate in light rain, including GOAT mowers with IPX6 waterproof protection. That said, mowing wet grass can affect cutting quality and leave clumps behind. Some models have rain sensors that automatically pause operation when rain is detected.
How often should you cut grass with a robot?
Robotic lawn mowers are made to be used frequently, like daily or a few times a week. Regular trimming keeps the grass healthy, encourages even growth, and reduces the amount of clippings left behind compared to infrequent mowing.
Do I need boundary wires for a robotic mower?
Many robotic mowers still require you to install boundary wires to define the mowing area. Advanced models like GOAT robot mowers, instead, use LiDAR and RTK navigation to accurately measure the boundaries that can be adjusted through an app.
Disclaimer(s):
- providing 4 times the connection speed and up to 130%: refers to the experimental result operated by ECOVACS Laboratory, that ECOVACS LELS navigation system presents a 4-times speed of connecting/recovering the RTK communication and 30% more stability of RTK connection among the competitive robotic mowers, chosen by ECOVACS Laboratory.
- 2.3 feet: This refers to the experimental result operated by ECOVACS Laboratory, that ECOVACS GOAT O Family is able to go through the path as narrow as 0.7m. Actual results may vary depending on factors such as grass type, lawn size, terrain, and other environmental conditions.
