Robotic lawn mowers are creeping their way in to everyday American life. Like the dishwasher, they were really more trouble than they were worth in the beginning. But technological advances have made the robotic lawn mower practical.

Robotic lawn mowers can now mow on a time schedule and return to the charging base all season long without human intervention, this is the breakthrough that makes them truly useful.

An advanced feature on at least one model is the self-programmable mode. As these robotic lawn mowers work they determine the size of the yard and how fast the grass is growing, when they go back to their charging base they calculate the next time they need to come out to keep the grass at the optimal height.

Rain sensors are becoming standard equipment. When it starts to rain or the sprinkler system activates, they return to their charging base. Mowing in the rain was a major complaint for early adopters.

Some robotic lawn mowers even have a wet grass detection system. Rain sensors are a step in the right direction, but it is the wet grass detection system that cures the problem. Heavy or long periods of rain can leave the grass wet and the ground soft for days. Heavier robotic lawn mowers could get stuck and dig trenches losing traction and spinning tires. Keeping bags of sand handy was just considered part of robotic lawn mower ownership.

Light weight lithium ion batteries allow mowers to cut longer and recharge much faster. In fact some can recharge in as little as 4 hours allowing the mower to go out twice a day if needed.

In addition to faster recharge times, lithium ion batteries do not have the