Dallas startup installs robotic mowers

Dogs bark, kids point and drivers slow down when they pass by Justin Crandall’s house in North Dallas. Sometimes, they even stop to take a picture.

The front lawn has become a neighborhood attraction ever since Crandall, a Dallas entrepreneur, installed a robotic lawnmower. It whirs around his yard each day, cutting blades of grass and then returning to its docking station.

When Crandall steps outside each morning, the lawn is freshly cut.

Crandall and his business partner, Bart Lomont, see the futuristic-looking landscaping robot as a key part of their company’s future. They co-founded Robin, a lawn care startup that initially sought to streamline the tedious task of finding someone to cut the grass. Now, they're rolling out robotic lawnmowers for homeowners willing to pay a higher price for that fresh-cut look.

The robotic lawnmowers look similar to a Roomba, but run on a wire that's snaked in the grass and either under or through the cracks of sidewalks and driveways. The mower follows the wire around the lawn and can find its way back to the docking station to recharge its battery.

So far, the company has installed 36 robotic lawnmowers, which run on their own and use electric power rather than gas. Along the way, they have had to overcome a few obstacles. Among them: fences, sidewalks and sticky fingers.

Starting this month, Robin plans to install 50 robotic lawnmowers per month, said Crandall, the startup's CEO.

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