Lawn Mower Innovation
4 June 2007It was unfortunate that I found this great example of innovation through through a tradegy. Engadet has a post on the unfortunate death of a man while operating this piece of equipment. The piece of equipment is the Spider radio controller slope mower. made by Dvorak Machine Division.
First let me point out that this particular unit is a radio controlled unit and not a robot per se, but a remote controlled machine (more like an RC car).
What caught my eye was the innovative nature of this piece of equipment and how it is an interesting solution to a well-defined niche market in the lawn care world. It is very common to find steep embandments and slopes around roadways, overpasses, dams, reseviors, lakes, or other municipal areas. If you look at what are the alternatives and current incumbents in the area mowing slopes, you will see the uniqueness of this offering by Dvorak.
Although I can’t quote direct prices, the spider looks like it could have a significantly lower cost of ownership than the usual tractor-swing arm or standard ride-on slope mowers. The productivity for the spider versus the hand held trimmer was approximately 6-1 from the spider commercial video at their site. It really changes the user expectation in terms of mode of interface, capital investment, and operator safety (in the long term). It is also interesting in that it might be much more successful than other remote controlled mowers (examples of few robotic lawnmowers). The key here is that most people initially think to replace the largest volume of mower on the market which is the home user base. In this setting the concept of a remote controlled mower is a luxury and feature overkill. Where in the specific market of slope mowing The Spider offers a unique value proposition when you compare the Spider Slope Mower to the rest of the market. This is an example of a disruptive technology to this particular sub-segment the lawn care market.
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