Robot Mower Boundary Wire Placement
This guide is intended to help owners of robotic mowers understand and plan boundary wire placement.
taking into account the presence of pools, trees, potholes, and other obstacles in the yard.
The general rule for trees is that if they stick straight up out of the lawn the mowers will bounce off them.
That is, if they don’t have roots that are exposed above the ground.
This is because the mowers have ‘bump’ detectors.
And these bump detectors will make them change course if they meet with an immovable obstacle.


Should I Bury The Wire?
This is the first question most new owners ask
There are two ways to install the boundary wire in the yard:
- Fasten the wire to the yard using the boundary wire pegs provided, spacing them out every metre or so (more closely near corners), and being careful to ensure that the wire does not ‘lift’ above the surface of the ground (especially in depressions – see the diagram). When laying out the wire with pegs, owners should first cut the grass as short as possible in the wire path, to ensure it does not lift and possible get cut by the mower blades.
- Bury the wire, no more than 5cm under the grass, so that there is no possibility of the mower blades ever cutting the wire. This may take longer to do, but will relieve the need to look for breaks in the wire, which will stop the mower from operating.

What about Corners?
Avoid making sharp corners
Care should be taken not to create a corner sharper than 90 degrees when setting up the virtual wire.
A corner sharper than 90 degrees can cause the mower to lose track of virtual wire.
If the boundary itself presents a corner sharper than 90 degrees,
it can be ’rounded as indicated by the diagram.

My Yard Has Trees and Flower Beds
Avoid mowing the flowers!
The virtual wire can be used to isolate areas inside the working area by creating islands around obstacles that can not withstand a collision, for example, flower beds and fountains.
- Run the wire out and around the area to be isolated, and then back along the same route.
- If pegs are used, the wire should be laid under the same peg on the return route.
- If the virtual wire is run to and from the island with a maximum distance of 1cm, the mower can drive over the wire as if it is not there.
- If protected obstacles are grouped closely together, isolate them individually.
- If obstacles are close to edge, leave them out of the mowing area.

I Have A Pool In The Backyard
Pools are just another obstacle
Swimming pools are generally required to have a fence surrounding them.
If this is the case, owners may be able to get away with having the robot bounce off the fence.
If the pool is above-ground, and sits directly off the lawn, the robot will bounce off that too.
But if there is any edging around the pool fence/walls (eg, gravel or flower beds, then the virtual boundary wire placement will need to be around the pool just like any other obstacle.
If this is the case, owners may be able to get away with having the robot bounce off the fence.
If the pool is above-ground, and sits directly off the lawn, the robot will bounce off that too.
But if there is any edging around the pool fence/walls (eg, gravel or flower beds, then the virtual boundary wire placement will need to be around the pool just like any other obstacle.

Where To Place the Charging Station
Where you place the station is important
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The charging station represents the beginning (and the end) of the mowing run. And it is a very important consideration in boundary wire placement. It is the place where the mower will depart from on its mowing cycle, and will return to when it needs a recharge.
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The signal of the virtual boundary wire will run in a clockwise direction. The station itself presents a small radio signal to the mower, so there should be a ‘line of sight’ from each area that the mower will be placed in, and the station itself. Therefore, the best place to install the charging station is somewhere that is flat, has no water, no magnetic interference and no obstacles in front.
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Please read another detailed article here we have written on the placement of the charging station
Conclusions About Boundary Wire Placement
Robotic Mowers conventionally use an electronic ‘virtual boundary’ wire installation, that passes a small signal which can be detected by the robot, to ensure that the mower does not go outside the area which it is intended to mow.
Robot mower boundary wire placement can be a laborious task. But we still think that having a boundary wire is better than the emerging wire-less technologies (for Now).
Although there are other newer emerging technologies such as GPS and radio signals, these can be expensive and unreliable, and the boundary wire solution is still the most reliable and safest way of defining where the autonomous mower is allowed to go.
What does robotzoo do?
Our clever devices help households do mundane chores and maintain the floors, windows, pools and lawns.
There’s a robot for almost every chore:
- Automatic battery driven robotic lawnmowers;
- Cordless pool cleaning robots;
- Frameless glass detecting robotic window cleaners; and,
- Self-emptying robotic floor vacs.
Want to Find Out More?
If you would like us to assess the suitability of your pool or lawn for our devices, please just fill out the enquiry form.
Alternatively, if you would prefer to speak to us first, please call us
on 1 3000 ROBOT. (1 3000 76268)