MOVA LiDAX Ultra 2000 3 month review
Disclaimer: Mova sent me this unit for free in return for my honest and open review. These thoughts are my own.
First Impressions
You can find my initial impressions on my previous post.
TLDR - The mower offers a fantastic, quality cut, but the firmware and programming leaves room for improvement.
robot mowing on a diagonal against the slope -- cut remains consistent
robot cuts in uneven terrain and tackles an uprooted blackberry rootball
Obstacle Avoidance
I have two kids and a dog. One of my primary concerns with a robot mower is how well it avoids objects, big and and small. For example, I have planter pots throughout the yard (think 6 inches to a foot talk). How would it handle this? We have a number of toys that get left out inadvertently, or dog balls, etc. Would this pose an issue?
Initially, I had high hopes for the object avoidance, because my Mova P10 pro ultra robot vacuum performs pretty well on this front. I figured some of this advancement would transfer. But it appears that it’s more about “starting from zero.” To be fair, a lawn is much harder to scan accurately.
My first complaint with object avoidance is with my planter pots. The mower will absolutely ram them, knocking them over before realizing it hit something. Sometimes it stops and moves on. Other times it will repeatedly ram them, sometimes even running over my grow bags.
not even sure how it managed to get here
Another example: I have a full length shovel, which got left on the grass. I figured it was big enough that the robot would figure it out. It continued to try to drive over it until it was stuck completely. Here's a video of a similar problem with a scooter:
It seems to me that it only seems to recognize objects based off of 1) running into something (think old school robot vacuums) or 2) getting stuck on something.
For the planters, you are able to edit the map and add “no go zones”, but I find it difficult to place accurately on the map.
However, one aspect of navigation I am pleased with is how it navigates getting stuck in holes in the lawn. We are currently pulling out blackberry plants. This leaves small holes in the lawn, the perfect size for the robot’s drive wheel to get stuck.
First, the mower will try to move forward or turn to drive forward. If it’s unable, it will back up and go around the problematic location. This makes me very hopeful that the object avoidance problems can be fixed via firmware updates. The way it handles these holes is exactly how it should handle other objects as well: realizing the problem and then avoiding those areas.
My Solution to Object Avoidance / Navigation woes
In addition to object avoidance, in my first impressions, I mentioned that the wheels were getting clogged and losing traction easily. I am happy to say that I am no longer having this issue after just a few changes. First of all, the change in weather probably has a lot to do with that. But the main change is re-mapping more conservatively.
I realized that, at least for MY lawn, which has a lot of ivy, muddy borders, clovers, moss, etc: that I am better off restricting how much of the lawn it cuts. I re-mapped the main, central part of our lawn: away from the potted plants, ivy, moss etc.Suddenly, the robot became “set and forget” instead of something I’d have to babysit constantly. I am happy to say that it completed an entire cut with no intervention.
This is NOT to say that you can’t have it cut your whole lawn. It just can’t cut MY whole lawn – which honestly, I’m not surprised!
Lastly: In my initial review, I stated that the robot would claim it was stuck and then randomly go back to the dock, proving it wasn’t stuck. This has been fixed in a firmware update. Yay!
Cut quality
Here’s the real win and the best positive. The quality of the cut that I get out of this robot far surpasses what I get out of my brand new Ego mower. I think this is for two reasons:
- Because it can cut more frequently than I would normally mow, the clippings each cut are very small. This also provides for great mulching.
- The robot is very precise about which direction it mows in. Nothing is missed and the lines turn out very consistent. Much better than I can do.
It’s honestly very surprising how well those spinning blades can cut.
Pin update needed
One update I’d recommend is to the pin system. On the plus side, Mova takes seriously anti-theft. On the other hand, any time you do ANYTHING, you seem to have to put a pin in. Emergency stop to move an object? Pin. Mower runs over a stick and need to remove it real quick? Put your pin in. It’s obnoxious!
It seems to me that the robot should be able to tell it’s still in the same yard based off of its map. Or that it should realize it’s connected to my phone via bluetooth and must not have been stolen. Please update this!!
Hopes for the future
- That the software capability is able to match with the device’s physical ability. Because if I haven’t made myself clear, it does a GREAT job with cutting.
- Pin update
- Object avoidance
Would I buy it?
- For my yard and family, no.
- For another yard? Absolutely. If you have a relatively clean lawn (no big sticks, toys, etc), and reasonable borders (aka not like a maze): I expect you to love this machine. In this case, it should be relatively plug and play.
- If you have more obstacles, very steep slopes, mud, ivy, etc: I believe you can be happy with this robot with either 1) a week or two of trial and error or 2) some concessions, as I described for my use case above.