Robotics

Willow X outdoor robot designed to help tend your garden

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Currently in prototyping, the Willow X outdoor robot features articulating arms to tackle numerous tasks in the garden
EEVE
Currently in prototyping, the Willow X outdoor robot features articulating arms to tackle numerous tasks in the garden
EEVE
Renders show an internal storage bin for garden waste, which Willow X opens using one of its multifunction robot arms
EEVE
A personal outdoor robot delivering cocktails on the lawn? With Willow X, that's certainly a possibility
EEVE
Renders depict a screen up top displaying expressive "eyes" for a more engaging user experience
EEVE
The battery-powered Willow X rolls on grippy wheels, with a battery pack that lasts for six hours per charge
EEVE
The Willow X is designed to help tend the lawn, flower beds and patio areas, in addition to potentially harvesting crops from the veggie patch
EEVE
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We've already seen a number of attempts to realize a sci-fi vision of the future and put robot helpers in the home to make our lives easier. Belgium-based startup Eeve is also developing a personal robot pal, but Willow X's job is to help you keep your garden tidy.

Eeve's personal robot dream began with the autonomous Toadi lawnmower, which morphed into the Willow battery-electric roving gardener and there are now more than 1,700 examples in the wild throughout Europe.

Unlike many of the robot mowers on the market today, the Eeve creations don't use perimeter wires or GPS tracking but rely on vision camera systems, mapping and obstacle detection. The latest iteration of Willow is set up and controlled using a companion mobile app.

The Willow robot and app are ready to roll now, though the 2022 build quota has already been met and orders are now being taken for the next batch, which start at €2,990 (about US$3,150) and are expected to ship in January 2023.

The Willow X is designed to help tend the lawn, flower beds and patio areas, in addition to potentially harvesting crops from the veggie patch
EEVE

But the Eeve team is already in the early development stage for the next evolution, the Willow X, which will feature two grippy wheels to the front and a stabilizing wheel to the rear, and a pair of extending multifunctional robot arms. There's still much work to be done, but the design team has a partially functioning prototype in the bag and has opened up the pre-order books.

So what will Willow X be capable of when the development and prototyping phases are completed? The introductory video (which we've embedded at the end) shows the blocky bot picking up fallen debris from the patio area and grabbing an attachment to vacuum up smaller bits Roomba-style before returning to its toolbox to take a mower to the lawn.

And though it doesn't appear to collect clippings in a bin, it does have one built in and can use its onboard camera and AI smarts to identify and remove weeds from the flower bed and place them in its storage bin for subsequent disposal on the compost heap.

A personal outdoor robot delivering cocktails on the lawn? With Willow X, that's certainly a possibility
EEVE

The video even shows Willow X harvesting carrots from the veggie patch and collecting fallen walnuts, and then depositing its harvest in a box on the patio steps. At the end of its shift, it returns to its charging port to top the battery pack up ready for its next patrol.

The functioning prototype certainly looks the part but as you can see from the latest demo below, it's not yet battery powered, doesn't appear to have an onboard storage bin and the operation of its robot arms seems to be undertaken via wireless handheld remote.

The multifunctional arms will enable Willow X to undertake a number of tasks around the garden, and a mower tool will be included. It's expected to use a 4K camera and AI smarts, will be able to operate for up to six hours per charge and its motor is reckoned capable of tackling 25-percent inclines. It will also have rain detection built in so that it can return to base during a downpour, and basic scripting possibilities will be available to users.

The idea is to enable personal roboteers to program the bot to undertake various outdoor tasks, and plans call for the introduction of a dedicated Eeve learning platform to hone skillsets and get the most from the Willow experience.

The Eeve development team is aiming to have Willow X in production by the end of 2024, with deliveries to customers starting early the following year. A standard model carries a list price of €4,200 (~$4,400) but is up for pre-order now for €3,990. A Pro version with a bigger battery lists for €4,900 but can be pre-ordered for €4,690. The video below has more.

Product page: Willow X

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8 comments
Brian
Named "Huey", I hope.
Gods Holy Trousers
Love Silent Running, underrated film. Huey, Duey and Louie were the first thing I thought of when I saw this.
Smokey_Bear
For it to be like their polished video, it will need an amazing AI. good luck with that, it's on board supercomputer will drain it's battery in 15 minutes.
CarolynFarstrider
Given the challenges still being faced by innovators attempting to design robust fruit picking robots for single crops such as strawberries and apples, I'd be astonished if this tiny device is ready for delivery. It's one thing sweeping and mowing, but entirely another picking up weeds and debris, pruning or harvesting. The 'hands' alone, as shown here, would be totally inadequate for gardening. Fun device, but not a serious contender as a gardener.
christopher
@Smokey_Bear - there's loads of ultra-low-power AI MCU's that exist now.

My Mowbot does a nice job (at mowing - it's algorithm is super annoying to watch), and there's no need for catching the clippings; the crazy high speed blades shred them on-the-spot leaving nothing behind at all: just nicely mown lawn.
TpPa
cool idea, but a little stabilizer wheel in the back won't work in a garden, going to need tracks for a day in the dirt. Should be interesting to see how it evolves in time
michael_dowling
christopher : Yes,robot lawnmowers do cuts much more frequently than humans,thus only the grass tips are cut off,leaving what is essentially mulch to fall into the lawn.
ljaques
I like the choice of white for the material. It will make the grass stains and brown dirt really show up all over the unit. I'll wait for my nuclear powered wallE. He's much more dextrous, precise, intelligent, sturdy, and everything else.