Robot Lawn Mower Unleashed on Tokyo

Honda (Tokyo) — Honda Motor Co., Ltd. today announced that it has begun demonstration testing of Miimo HRM520 (Miimo), Honda’s robotic lawn mower, jointly with the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association (Park Association). The purpose of the test program is to verify the usability and aptitude of Miimo for large-sized parks as well as the feasibility of using Miimo for dry riverbeds where there is no existing power supply facility.

At the end of last month (November 2019), Honda and the Park Association began conducting demonstration testing of Miimo, a robotic lawn mower developed for home use, at Hibiya Park (the First Flower Garden area) to verify its usability for a large-sized park during daytime hours, as well as its aptitude for park management operations. Through this demonstration testing, Honda expects to expand the potential of robotic lawn mowers for park management operations, while contributing to the improvement and expansion of areas with expansive lawns.

Moreover, since October 1, 2019, Honda and Park Association have been conducting demonstration testing using Miimo together with LiB-AID E500 (E500), Honda’s portable power source, at the Shinnakagawa Temporary Mooring located at the dry riverbed of Shinnakagawa River, to verify the feasibility of using Miimo in an environment where there is no permanent installation of power supply facility. Through this testing, Honda hopes to contribute to expanding the potential for unattended environmental improvement operations in areas where a permanent power supply facility is not available.

Both of these tests will be carried out jointly with Park Associations which will use Miimo and the E500 at two testing locations, namely Hibiya Park and Shinnakagawa Temporary Mooring. Honda will collect data on both use cases.

Miimo’s ability to mow a lawn and recharge itself automatically makes lawn management easy and convenient. Miimo has become popular due to the fact that it can foster a dense and beautiful lawn by taking advantage of the nature of grass that is mowed constantly. By slowing growth, the number of sprouts increases and the lawn becomes denser. The E500 is a portable power source that stores electricity and enables the user to use electrical appliances in various situations.