I've seen most of 2026's new lawnbots, and these are the 3 major trends to look out for

Robot lawn mowers have been a thing for a while now, but I think 2026 is going to be the year they become truly mainstream. The shift from boundary wires to wire-free mowing removed a major barrier to entry, and now lawnbots are set to become even more user-friendly.

I saw most brands' new launches at CES, and there were three major trends that stood out. It's an exciting time for robot mowers – here are the big updates coming to a yard near you this year.

#1. LiDAR-based navigation

The standout trend is the use of LiDAR for navigation. This has been the standard in robot vacuums for a few years, and now it's making its way into lawnbots. LiDAR works by bouncing beams of light off of objects, recording how long those beams take to return, and using that information to build a 3D ...