ECOVACS GOAT A3000 LiDAR Pro: Canadian lawn test and regional buying notes

ECOVACS GOAT a3000 Lawn Mower Test

(- [laughter]) I was in our backyard, I held a robot lawn mower competition ECOVACS entered the competition Let's see how it performs The full name of this robot mower is ECOVACS GOAT a3000 Lidar Pro Robot Lawn Mower That name is way too long For convenience I'll just call it the GOAT a3000 the Three-Thousand Goat Once summer arrives in Canada the grass in the backyard starts growing like crazy Leave it unattended for a few weeks and it could end up looking like this Anyone who lives in a house needs a lawn mower.

The Three-Thousand Goat is here to replace it and do the same job So the principle should be about the same, right?

Small Blades and Cutting Performance

The difference is huge A lawn mower relies on high-speed rotation underneath to cut the grass That spinning speed is basically (- Super fast!) speed beats everything If it spins that fast without anyone operating it, and moves forward on its own isn't that dangerous? For the Three-Thousand Goat to replace a lawn mower the big blade has to become small blades Can that still cut grass? It really can The Three-Thousand Goat's solution is to put sharpness first And by “sharpness,” I mean sharp blades six sharp little blades spinning at a high speed of 3,000 rpm As for the result let's hear what the watching neighbors have to say But

Rust, Blade Wear, and Replacement Costs

for sharpness, the Three-Thousand Goat uses high-carbon steel After being left outdoors for a long time they've rusted already So the blades become consumables I estimate I'll need 12 blades in one summer which will cost 40 Canadian dollars plus tax

[Text: ECOVACS GOAT Blade Kit — for the GOAT A/O Series; compatible with A3000 LIDAR PRO/O1000 RTK Care Kit — C$39.99]

Do you think that's expensive? The grass looks nicely cut

Mapping, Boundaries, and Tall-Grass Avoidance

So how does it work unattended? How does the Three-Thousand Goat know where the backyard boundary is? How does it keep from falling off when it reaches the road? How does it go around trees? Robot vacuums have already solved these problems A robot vacuum maps the rooms while a robot mower maps the backyard

[Text: During remote control, tap to have the robot automatically create a boundary. If you're unhappy with the path, press and hold to erase it.]

A robot vacuum can avoid obstacles and a robot mower can avoid them too Wait—hey, hey, hey, hey, hey! Don't avoid the grass as if it's an obstacle! Is it done mowing? Is it done mowing? From the settings, you can see that the Three-Thousand Goat is confident it can handle grass under 20 centimeters

[Text: Mowing preferences Mowing height (cm) Obstacle avoidance mode Short grass, flat terrain: Automatically avoids objects ≥10 cm high on the map; recommended for grass under 10 cm. Normal terrain: Automatically avoids objects ≥15 cm high on the map; recommended for grass under 15 cm. Tall grass: Automatically avoids objects ≥20 cm high on the map; recommended for grass under 20 cm.]

From this angle, anything over 20 centimeters is treated as an obstacle so it goes around it. This section is over 20 centimeters too, so it avoids it as well

Lawn Results and a Bold-Mode Request

How do you think this robot did on your lawn? (- For the front yard, I'd say it's good enough to pay you) What about the backyard? (- For the backyard, you should pay me) [laughter] I don't want to pay him, so ECOVACS, please make one small change Add a “Charge Ahead” mode to the Three-Thousand Goat's settings—disable obstacle avoidance and go all in Once the map is made, mark fixed obstacles like trees as no-go zones. Disable obstacle avoidance everywhere else and push straight through Mark it as a no-go zone Disable obstacle avoidance everywhere else Push straight through

Debris Cleanup and Edge-Trimming Limits

Why buy a robot lawn mower? Because I don’t want to go to the trouble of mowing it myself. I’d rather, before mowing, clear the debris from the lawn than wait for it to finish and then have to go over it again myself. The Three-Thousand Goat's blades The blades fall 6 centimeters short of the edge. so they can't cut the edge of the lawn ECOVACS thoughtfully added an Edge-Trimmer which adds edge-trimming functionality In my testing I mapped as close to the edge as possible but it still had trouble trimming right along the edge It's better than nothing, I suppose But it can't replace a trimmer

Slopes, Steps, and Mobility

It doesn't have all-wheel drive It handles slopes without much trouble but steps take a little more effort (- It's just missing all-wheel drive) Yeah But it's pretty smart It even knows to try another spot And there it goes—it made it up Good goat, good goat It never stopped throughout the entire mowing session It handles the terrain very well. Especially the turns. It is like military training. Oh, boy Does it have to be this fast again?

Final Verdict: GOAT a3000 Takes First Place

To sum up Contestant number one, the Three-Thousand Goat works for small and medium-sized yards As long as it can reach the area it does a beautiful job (- You don't mind if I take a video?) Go ahead and film it. No problem. I hope ECOVACS takes the hint

[Text: Obstacle avoidance mode Short grass, flat terrain: Automatically avoids objects ≥10 cm high on the map; recommended for grass under 10 cm. Normal terrain: Automatically avoids objects ≥15 cm high on the map; recommended for grass under 15 cm. Charge Ahead: Disables obstacle avoidance and goes all in; recommended to use this mode only.]

and adds a “Charge Ahead” mode It could handle both tall and short grass The Three-Thousand Goat is currently in first place The pressure is on the next contestant Next up