RTK vs LiDAR vs Vision: How Robot Mowers Navigate

A wire-free mower has to know where it is to within a few inches, all the time. Three technologies do that job, and most 2026 mowers combine two or three of them.

RTK satellite positioning

Regular GPS is accurate to a few meters, not enough to keep a mower out of your flower beds. RTK (real-time kinematic) compares the satellite signal with a correction source at a known position, which brings accuracy to about an inch or two. The correction comes from either a base antenna in your yard or a network RTK service over cellular, which is why newer mowers often don't need an antenna.

Strengths: precise in the open, works on big featureless lawns. Weak spots: dense tree canopy, tall walls and narrow gaps between houses, where satellites are blocked or signals bounce.

LiDAR

A spinning laser measures distances to everything around the mower, building a 3D map of trees, fences, walls and buildings. The mower locates itself by matching what it sees to that map.

Strengths: shade makes no difference, works in tight spaces, doesn't need light. Weak spots: wide-open fields with few fixed objects to measure against.

AI vision

Cameras recognize grass, paths, edges and obstacles such as toys, hoses and pets. Visual SLAM, a related technique, tracks the mower's movement against what the cameras see, filling in when satellite signal drops.

Strengths: obstacle avoidance and edge detection. Weak spots: low light and lawns that blend into beds.

Which mowers use what

How to pick