Adaptive Lawn Care
Not all grass grows the same. Every zone of your lawn gets exactly the care it needs.
Key claims
- H3 hexagonal grid divides lawns into independent cells CLM-ALC-001
- High-vigor zones mowed more frequently; stress zones receive fewer passes CLM-ALC-002
- Competitive exclusion — frequent mowing favors dense grass over broadleaf weeds CLM-ALC-004
- ~45% high-vigor, ~25% neutral, ~30% stress-sensitive (108 properties) CLM-ALC-006
The Problem with Uniform Mowing
Conventional lawn mowers — both manual and robotic — treat the entire lawn as a uniform surface. Every area receives the same mowing pattern at the same frequency. But lawns are biologically heterogeneous: areas under tree canopy grow differently than areas in full sun.
Soil composition, moisture, and microclimate create zones with distinct growth characteristics. Uniform mowing either over-stresses slow-growth areas or under-maintains fast-growth areas.
How Adaptive Mowing Works
Spatial Indexing with Uber H3
Volta uses Uber's H3 hexagonal hierarchical spatial index to divide each lawn into discrete cells. The hexagonal grid avoids the distortion of square grids and provides uniform adjacency (each cell has exactly six neighbors), making spatial analysis more natural.
Cell-Level Decision Making
Each cell is independently characterized:
- Growth rate — measured through repeated camera observations
- Density — turf coverage within the cell
- Stress indicators — discoloration, thinning, or disease signs
Based on this per-cell profile, the system adjusts mowing frequency:
- High-vigor cells — more frequent passes
- Stress-sensitive cells — fewer passes
- Neutral cells — standard schedule
Volta has collected fleet telemetry data from 108 US residential properties. The data reveals consistent heterogeneity. This distribution is consistent across geographic regions, suggesting that heterogeneous growth is a universal property of residential lawns — not an anomaly.
The Biological Mechanism
The scientific basis for adaptive mowing is competitive exclusion: when desirable turfgrass species are maintained at optimal height through frequent cutting, they form a dense canopy that suppresses broadleaf weeds and other undesirable species by limiting light availability at the soil surface.
Peer-reviewed research supports this mechanism. Studies show that high-frequency robotic mowing increases turfgrass density and quality scores compared to conventional weekly mowing.
Limitations & Ongoing Research
- Cell classification is not instant — requires multiple sessions to build reliable profiles
- Grass species identification is ongoing research, not a current production feature
- Environmental factors (drought, disease, pest pressure) affect cell behavior in ways the system is still learning
Evidence References
| Claim | Evidence | Tier |
|---|---|---|
CLM-ALC-001 | H3 spatial indexing | Internal — adaptive-lawn-care.md |
CLM-ALC-004 | Competitive exclusion | Tier 1 — EVD-006 (McKernan & Ross-Davis, 2000) |
CLM-ALC-006 | Fleet data (108 properties) | Tier 3 — EVD-001 (internal fleet telemetry) |
CLM-ALC-005 | Robotic mowing frequency benefits | Tier 1 — EVD-008 (Grossi et al., 2020) |
