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 The Bedford, Massachusetts-based company, known for its robot vacuum
cleaner Roomba, has designed a robot lawn mower that would
wirelessly connect with stakes in the ground operating as signal
beacons, rising above the ground by as much as 24 inches (61 cm).
Automated grass-mowers have spread across Europe in recent years. In
the United States, iRobot told the FCC its competitors only offer
hands-free mowers that require underground fences or other elaborate
setups.
IRobot's stake design, however, required a waiver from the Federal
Communications Commission to make sure that transmissions between
its machines and the antennas wouldn't interfere with other devices
using the same frequencies.
The FCC usually prohibits the operation of "fixed outdoor
infrastructure" transmitting low-power radio signal without a
license, and iRobot's lawn mower beacons fell in that category.
The National Radio Astronomy Observatory had fought iRobot's waiver
request, saying the lawn mowers would interfere with its telescopes.
But the regulators waived the rules for iRobot, saying its beacon
design should be safe with the promised limitations on height,
signal strength and use in residential areas.
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"The FCC's assessment agrees with our analysis that the technology
will not have a negative impact on radio astronomy," iRobot's
spokesman said in a statement welcoming the FCC's move.
"The FCC’s decision will allow iRobot to continue exploring the
viability of wideband, alongside other technologies, as part of a
long-term product exploration effort in the lawn mowing category."
(Reporting by Alina Selyukh; Editing by Alan Crosby)
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