Can this robotic lawn mower change golf’s turf industry forever?
No more dreaded 4am starts. More time to spend on those pesky tasks the club’s committee urgently what resolved. And a much ‘greener’ and more sustainable business at a time where finding staff is proving increasingly difficult.
This could be the new reality for golf course superintendents across the country thanks to a revolutionary new turf-care product that’s leaving petrolheads green with envy.
After a successful introduction to a select number of European markets last year, Husqvarna’s ground-breaking robotic solution for commercial turf-care management is now available Down Under.
Husqvarna Ceora is tipped to revolutionise an industry dominated by heavy, conventional, petrol-powered mowers by automating time and resource-consuming tasks while at the same time helping to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 83 percent during the machine’s life cycle compared to a petrol Husqvarna P 525DX ride-on mower.
After its European launch, the reception to Ceora has been extremely positive, underlining – among many things – the great cutting quality and the consistently good turf quality over time, according to Pauline Nilsson, vice-president at Husqvarna Australia.
“We have seen a rapid acceleration of the use of robotic lawn mowers for commercial turf care in Europe over the past few years and it’s clear that Ceora is a solution that lives up to the expectations and hopes of greenkeepers, golf course and sportsfields managers, and we are looking forward to seeing the same acceleration occur here in Australia,” Nilsson says.
The company believes the benefits of choosing its Ceora are plentiful, especially for golf clubs and other outdoor professionals caring for large grass areas. Switching from conventional commercial mowers is estimated to result in cost savings up to 50 per cent, and the electric operation of autonomous machines minimises noise and reduces CO2 emissions significantly.
“Husqvarna is dedicated to a sustainable future, leading the industry with low-carbon, battery-powered, resource-smart solutions,” Nilsson adds. “Through pioneering solutions, we empower people to make sustainable choices daily.”
The Ceora is purpose-built to be autonomous and is designed with safety in mind. Future releases will see the machine evolve to have a wide range of accessories to support the various needs of green space professionals.
“We’re actually just seeing the start of all that can be made possible with Ceora,” says Kylie Berge, robotics acceleration manager at Husqvarna Australia.
“We see there could be overall cost savings that users of Ceora could experience, such as being able to free up staff from time-consuming, repetitive tasks, allowing them to use their expertise for more varied and value-adding tasks, is an enormous benefit for just about any maintenance or landscaping business in our market.”
Husqvarna says the Ceora makes the lawn greener and denser thanks to its unique cutting technology, low weight and opportunity to mow more frequently. Instead of manually operating the mower, green-space professionals can simply use their smartphone to control how, when and where Ceora mows. The performance on the lawn is efficient and systematic, mowing in a lane-by-lane sequence. Maintenance during the season is limited to changing blades and cleaning.
Greenkeepers can expect Ceora to navigate with a precision of two to three centimetres, thanks to Husqvarna’s satellite navigation system, Epos. They can also target individually defined areas on demand, with different schedules as well as height-settings. The user keeps perfect control of all mowers in the fleet, through the Husqvarna Fleet Services application. Ceora is backed by Husqvarna’s maintenance and support program, providing fast repair and replacement services.
Ceora is designed to avoid obstacles like tee markers, sprinkler heads and stray golf balls. With the ultrasonic remote object avoidance system, the mower slows down soon as it senses an approaching object. As a positive side effect, this increases uptime by eliminating interruptions and
undesired stops.
Husqvarna is bringing two models to Australia: Husqvarna Ceora 544 Epos (RRP $45,897) and Husqvarna Ceora 546 Epos ($51,397). Reference stations are sold separately, with costs applied for installation.
• For more information, visit husqvarna.com/au/learn-and-discover/ceora/
