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Navimow climbs over automatic gate guide rails, transverses shingle driveways

Kiwi homes usually feature at least several separate sections of lawn.

By setting up each separated section of lawn as a "Zone" Navimow can drive along a "Corridor" to get from one Zone to another. The route of the corridor can include surfaces such as concrete driveways, paving stones, cobbles, tiles and dirt paths.

In our tests, Navimow can also travel on shingle driveways and over automatic gate guide rails.

The photo above shows Navimow on a driveway made of GAP 20 metal (that is, stones up to 20mm in size).

The photos below show Navimow driving over an automatic gate guide rail. Driving directly over the rail works well (i.e. approach at right angles, or 90 degrees), and was 100% repeatedly reliable in our tests.

We also experimented with approaching the rail at an angle such as 45 degrees. This did not work so well. The first front castor wheel to hit the rail tends to rotate on it's swivel arm and then the side of the castor wheel presses up against the rail and begins to slide along the it (as it is unable to roll over it in this orientation). It is pushed along the rail by Navimow's driving wheels, which also begin to slip in the shingle. An angled approach may work OK on a fully sealed (concrete, bitumen) surface where there is no wheel slippage, but in practice there is no reason to approach a rail at any direction other than at right angles.

Presently, all Zones must be connected by a Corridor. But not every lawn is laid out in such a way that every area of lawn can be connected by corridors. For example, some lawns have areas that separated entirely, or are terraced. Coming soon is an update to the Navimow App that will permit non-continuous lawns to be mowed. The owner will be able to carry their Navimow to an "orphaned" Zone, place it down, and set it mowing. This new feature will enable Navimow to be used to mow just about every garden layout imaginable.