iRobot's robotic lawn mower gets U.S. regulatory approval, brings grass cutting to new heights

It seems like yard work is headed to a greener pasture with the new free-wheeling automated lawn mower made by iRobot Corp Inc, which recently got regulatory approval Wednesday to manufacture and sell their new product.

A robotic lawn mower seems like a thing of the future, but for the American consumers, the future is closer.

iRobot Corp Inc is a robotics company based in Bedford, Massachusetts. It's most popular product yet is the Roomba, which is a robot vacuum cleaner. Automated lawn mowers have become a trend in Europe, but iRobot's new design brings this technology to a new level. The Federal Communications Commission was even prompted the company to make sure that the transmission between the machine and its antennas wouldn't interfere with other important devices with similar frequencies.

The new technology got approval despite objections from the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The observatory believes that the mower may interfere with telescopes, but FCC supported iRobot, claiming that the technology has limitations that would ensure it wouldn't harm astronomers' works.

According to iRobot's spokesman, "The FCC's assessment agrees with our analysis that the technology will not have a negative impact on radio astronomy."

"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," the spokesman added."

The futuristic lawn mower is said to operate through stakes in the ground that connects to the mower and a map wirelessly. The map lets it identify where to cut.

The automatic lawn mower has been under works for nearly 10 years. It was already mentioned as early as nine years ago in a Forbes.com article.

This new technology is a big leap for iRobot after its success with Roomba. This futuristic vacuum cleaner can manoeuvre through obstacles with its infrared, cliff, and bumper sensors. As of now, there are no exact amounts to how much the new lawn mower would costs.