Garden Technology · How-to

How to Install a Robot Mower Properly

Antenna placement, boundary mapping and no-go zones — the steps that decide whether your mower works unsupervised.

By Anna LindqvistUpdated 6 September 20267 min read

Give this an afternoon rather than an hour. Everything that annoys robot mower owners later is decided during installation.

1. Place the antenna before anything else

The reference antenna needs the widest possible view of the sky, away from walls, gutters and dense canopy. Move it two metres and check the app's signal quality again — small changes make a large difference.

2. Walk the boundary slowly

Keep a consistent 15–20 cm margin from walls and beds, and walk at a steady pace. Rushing produces a jagged boundary that the mower will interpret literally for years.

3. Add no-go zones generously

Irrigation heads, young trees, ponds and gravel all deserve exclusions. You can always shrink a zone later; repairing a chewed sprinkler is less pleasant.

  • Exclude tree bases with a 30 cm margin
  • Exclude gravel and bark entirely
  • Mark garden furniture areas if they are used regularly

4. Set a schedule your neighbours can live with

Two shorter daytime sessions usually beat one long one, and respect local quiet hours — many European municipalities restrict machine noise on Sunday and around midday.

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