Seen the Precise Path RG3 Robotic Greens Mower?

[iacas]

http://bcove.me/7q6no9li

If I could embed it, I would.

The RG3 can mow an entire green without human operation. It's controlled by four beacons placed around the edge of the green. Humans still have to get it from green to green, but once the grounds crew worker gets it up and running, he is free to change the pin, rake the sand, fix ball marks, or do other maintenance tasks.

$30k...

[tristanhilton85]

That is pretty damn cool... 30k sounds like a lot of cash although to be perfectly honest, I have no idea how much a regular greens mower cost.

[iacas]

Originally Posted by tristanhilton85

That is pretty damn cool... 30k sounds like a lot of cash although to be perfectly honest, I have no idea how much a regular greens mower cost.

This says about $1500: http://www.cleanairgardening.com/greensmower.html .

This has a used one for $900: http://www.turfequipmentdisplay.com/used-turf-equipment.html .

So I'd guess $2k to $3k. Making this 10-15x as expensive. But if you can replace one employee with it (because the other employee can do work while it mows), it might be "worth it" after only one year. Maybe.

[tristanhilton85]

Yeah after a year or two I suppose it would be worth it depending on the pay of the guy you are replacing with it.

[stealthduffer]

Mmmm - intersting concept.  But a couple of things.  First it looks kind of slow - getting greens and other maintenance done quickly so play can begin is a top priority. An experienced greens mower can get through a green pretty quickly.   Second, how well does it work on greens that have a significant change in elevation?

Economics would seem pretty straightforward if you can replace one worker with it.

[Zeph]

Yeah after a year or two I suppose it would be worth it depending on the pay of the guy you are replacing with it.

Won't you still need someone to take it out and supervise it?

[x129]

Buy three of them. Guy puts them on green 1,2,3 and then moves 1->4 and so on. I would also assume this guy can mow in the dark (the ones for your house can).

Originally Posted by stealthduffer

Mmmm - intersting concept.  But a couple of things.  First it looks kind of slow - getting greens and other maintenance done quickly so play can begin is a top priority. An experienced greens mower can get through a green pretty quickly.   Second, how well does it work on greens that have a significant change in elevation?

Economics would seem pretty straightforward if you can replace one worker with it.

[FLOG4]

An apparatus to help put golf workers out of work.  Hmm, Wouldn't think that would be something you would support.  Flat greens, yea. relatively common shapes, yea. Ultimately a human will have to be present for the entire time anyway....What ifs. It misses the stop and goes into a lake or bunker.  A person will have to be overseeing it 100%.  We got one of those Rumba's..Vacuums for the house. Big open areas OK.....Normal room....Not So Much. Gets stuck under, on edges, can't get to spots...It got replaced after a few weeks....

[x129]

I would support an apparatus to reduce the cost of maintaing a golf course which will lead to lower priced rounds of golf.

You can't compare your 200 dollar toy with a 30k machine.  Again there are mowers that do backyards (use wires underground) and they can handle pretty decent grades. I have no idea if it is currently makes financial sense or not but technically this is very doable.

Originally Posted by FLOG4

An apparatus to help put golf workers out of work.  Hmm, Wouldn't think that would be something you would support.  Flat greens, yea. relatively common shapes, yea. Ultimately a human will have to be present for the entire time anyway....What ifs. It misses the stop and goes into a lake or bunker.  A person will have to be overseeing it 100%.  We got one of those Rumba's..Vacuums for the house. Big open areas OK.....Normal room....Not So Much. Gets stuck under, on edges, can't get to spots...It got replaced after a few weeks....

[Justin Kime]

Hey Guys,

I work for Precise Path and I just wanted to answer some of the questions you guys have posed on here.

The premise in using the RG3 on a golf course is that each operator would take the robot to the green, get it started and the be free to do other tasks such as raking bunkers, fixing ballmarks, changing the cup, changing tee markers, emptying trash, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.  The idea is that a golf course is able to get much more done with the current labor they have, thus making the course better overall.

A current walk behind greens mower that clubs use ranges from $7,000 up to $13,000.  The RG3 costs roughly $38,000 once you add in the trailer and other add ons.   It operates at a speed that is equal to a current mower today, however our turns take a little bit longer than a humans turns.  The RG3 is also more gentle on the grass during the turns because the drum never slips and spins continuously like current mowers today.

Another great advantage of the RG3 is that it is actually rolling the green  after mowing.  This creates a uniform, smooth playing surface across the entire green.

One other thing I saw brought up was the fear that it would go out of control and fall into a bunker or pond.  Around each green there is a designated line where the RG3 should not cross, and it it starts to, the system will pull the break immediately.  This eliminates any run away situations.

If you guys have any other questions don't hesitate to ask.  You can find more information on our website (www.precisepath.com) or our blog (www.precisepath.com/blog).  Thanks again guys and I hope you get to see a RG3 on a course near you soon.

[spring213]

I cant believe the RG3 only cost $30k, that is extremely low considering the technology and the eventual savings. The math for a general golf course, in the way of savings, is the cost of a crew maintaining the greens costs about $118k/yr, and with the RG3 mowing the greens the cost of manpower goes down to $48k/yr, saving a sup around $70,000 dollars a year on the grounds budget! Pays for itself. Is the price to buy the RG3 outright 30k? or is that some sort of longterm lease? or what ..

[spring213]

I am a golf course Assistant Superintendent. Ive never worked with an auto-mow, but I love the concept and everything I've seen from the RG3. It would save so much on labor, instead of mowing then raking, you can rake while it mows. My only concerns would obviously be if the machine could maintain straight lines without missing areas. I'm trying to convince my Sup to demo one. I feel like I love this machine so much (without ever even seeing it) that if I did see it and it works the way I think it would, I'd want to change my job to be a Precise Path Salesman! lol -From New Hampshire

[Justin Kime]

The RG3 cost of $38,000 is the outright cost to buy each machine.  A typical course would need as many RG3's as it does walk mowers in order to mow in roughly the same amount of time.  If you guys have any other questions I would be more than happy to answer them.  Just fire away.

[Wet Doggg]

Worked on a course for about 10 years through college and my initial assessment is it looks cool and seems to work well but man is it slow. Not only how fast it is going across the green but especially turning.

[Justin Kime]

The RG3 has the capability to mow at the same speed as a walk behind mower in the straight lines.  Like you pointed out, the turns do take longer (around 6 seconds longer), but the RG3's drum never slips, thus never wearing down the grass.  The overall mow time is on average only 3-6 minutes longer per green than what a walk behind mower can do today.