Striving to help people through its mobility products and services and continue to offer new value that will surprise and inspire people, Honda has been developing new technologies across its wide range of businesses. In the area of power products, Honda has been pursuing enhanced application of autonomous and intelligent technologies to its products to deliver new value that enables people to make their daily lives more enjoyable, while addressing various societal challenges.
In particular, in the lawn care and landscaping industry in advanced countries, where an aging workforce and human resource shortage have become a concern, there is growing demand for products that increase the efficiency of landscaping work. Since the market launch of its first robotic lawn mower, the Miimo HRM500, in Europe in 2012, Honda has continued to offer products that contribute to making mowing and trimming more efficient and less labor-intensive.
Against such a backdrop, Honda is introducing the ProZision series of riding lawn mowers that combine advanced mowing technologies Honda has amassed through years of research and development of various types of lawn mowers, with the latest autonomous and intelligent technologies. ProZision series models will deliver outstanding terrain handling capability that stands up to difficult landscaping conditions, as well as outstanding cutting performance with Honda MicroCut® Twin Blades.
The ProZision Autonomous is capable of operating in autonomous mode by memorizing and accurately following mowing routes and patterns pre-set by the operator, while recognizing its accurate location using GNSS*. During operation, onboard radar and LiDAR sensors provide 360-degree sensing of the surroundings to detect changes in terrain and obstacles to enable the ProZision Autonomous to automatically determine the appropriate mowing route. This makes it possible for the ProZision Autonomous to operate safely and achieve a high-quality lawn finish without needing a human operator on board.
The ProZision Autonomous will contribute not only to addressing labor shortage and cost reduction challenges facing the lawn care and landscape maintenance industry, but also to mitigating worker burden in harsh work environments, such as rough terrain and dusty conditions.
In addition to electrification, Honda will continue to expand application of autonomous and intelligent technologies to offer products that help people in their daily lives.