In context
In mid-2024, municipalities across the United States faced persistent labor shortages and heightened wildfire risks, prompting public works departments to explore robotic solutions for land management. The City of Vallejo, California, responsible for over 8,000 acres including water infrastructure, turned to remote-operated mowers to address safety and efficiency challenges.
What was reported
The City of Vallejo Water Department added three RC Mowers remote-controlled robotic mowers to its fleet for the 2024 mowing season. Facilities maintenance supervisor Robert Ljuba cited the need to protect workers from hazards like steep slopes, biting insects, and wild animals while clearing vegetation that could fuel wildfires.
The R-60 and newly acquired R-52 models enabled the team to complete fuel mitigation on the Summit Reservoir dam in four hours, a task that previously required 12 or more contracted hand-crews for a full day. Ljuba reported zero injuries since the purchase, calling it "the ultimate safety test."
RC Mowers vice president Tim Kubista noted the R Series can mow steep slopes and hazardous terrain in half the time with a crew of one, addressing labor shortages. The upgraded rear-discharge deck improves first-pass yield by over 100 percent.
“With the R-60 and R-52’s, our facilities maintenance team is able to stay safe on the flat land while the mowers do their best work in the hazardous terrain.”
Why it mattered
This deployment illustrates how remote-operated robotics can mitigate worker risk and boost productivity in municipal maintenance, offering a scalable model for other agencies facing similar terrain and safety constraints.
Source: Robotics & Automation News (roboticsandautomationnews.com) · Published 2024-08-27 · “RC Mowers’ remote-operated robotic mowers solve City of Vallejo ‘biggest problems’”