Part 2: Execution

Ever watch a fairway with intriguing terrain being mowed autonomously for the first time? The spectating begins with anticipation, as an inquisitive group often lingers in the intermediate cut or the fringes of the primary rough.

From a distance, over the crest of a hill where blind becomes visible, a machine devoid of a human operator appears. Then, somewhere around the time it takes to mow a pass, observing curiosity becomes a chore.

The Toro team responsible for developing the Greensmaster eTriFlex 3360 with GeoLink Mow relishes monotonous outcomes. The most impactful technology always evolves into an afterthought.

“You can only do so much watching. We were out there this morning, and it was just doing its job. It’s mowing, now what?” says Kelly Meemken, a senior product marketing manager working on Toro’s advanced technology following a quick check-in on a GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower at a venerable Midwest club. “That’s the point: We don’t want superintendents watching the machine. It’s, Get it started, go do something else and it will let you know when it’s done.”

As is the case with bringing any emerging technology to the workplace, a few basic understandings must be obtained to achieve the effortless execution the GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower offers golf courses.

Determining fit

Not every golf course is currently a viable candidate to autonomously mow every fairway. Through training events conducted at its Bloomington, Minnesota, headquarters and select test sites, Toro is educating its vast distributor network about autonomous fairway mowing considerations, including identifying the right customer fits. “We like to call it training the trainer,” says Jeff Ische, a senior product marketing manager in the commercial group.

Sessions in college-like classrooms introduce how Toro will bring the mower to the market and how distributors can identify which customers are prepared to delve into autonomous mowing. Distributors learn they must establish realistic expectations upfront.

Toro has created an app assessing factors revealed on course tours with customers such as cell signal coverage, proximity to a RTK station, separation between private property and fairways, public thoroughfares within course boundaries, severity of slopes and drop-offs, and course architecture to determine the practicality of autonomous fairway mowing. The app allows distributors to take and upload pictures and add notes. Once complete, a pdf of the content is created and a report assessing autonomous fairway mowing viability is sent to Toro and customers.

“It’s probably the most important step in the process,” Meemken says. “It’s a minimal investment for the customer and the distributor, but it’s setting the expectations and making sure expectations align with what the machine can and is allowed to do.”

Distributors also receive field training on physical features separating the GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower from traditional units, control functions and how to guide customers in the mapping process. A multiplatform content library helps distributors once they leave training sessions and engage with prospective customers. How-to videos are also available to customers through any device with internet access.

Numerous distributors are entrusting representatives who visited Minnesota or test sites to impart knowledge on co-workers, creating a multiplier effect of professionals ready to guide golf course maintenance operations into autonomous fairway mowing journeys. A 111-year-old company heavily invested in golf, Toro supports the largest domestic and global equipment distribution network in the industry. The GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower follows hundreds of golf innovations introduced by Toro, including other GeoLink technologies.

Experience introducing GPS-guided spraying to superintendents will help Toro and its distributors introduce autonomous fairway mowing. Superintendents familiar with the RTK and cell subscriptions required to activate a GPS-guided sprayer are on the path to grasping the technological infrastructure behind autonomous fairway mowing.

The combination of past Toro golf triumphs, thorough site vetting and structured support system removes trepidation surrounding deploying autonomous fairway mowers on key playing surfaces like fairways. Toro is also bracing for early adopters to demonstrate methodical execution.

“One of the things we’ve been hearing from the field from our test sites is the idea that, ‘I’m going to introduce this slowly. It’s not wholesale,’” says Josh Lemons, a product marketing manager in the golf products group who works closely with distributors. “It’s the idea that, I’m dipping my toes into this to supplement the existing crew, allowing them to focus on more value-added activities. Starting slowly by mowing three or four holes will help superintendents understand how this can change their practices. The idea of starting small is a great place to start.”

About the machine

Standing by a GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower parked outside a maintenance facility, Meemken notes the three biggest differences between the unit and a traditional fairway mower: the abundance of sensors, the “brains” residing atop the roof, and lights indicating autonomous and manual operating modes. Meemken shuffles around the mower, extending his arms to describe radiuses for obstacle detection and safety systems.

The GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower consists of a courtesy zone and hazard zone. As the machine approaches an object, the machine will stop while the object is in the courtesy zone and remains in autonomous mode with the reels and engine off, waiting for the object to move. If the object moves, the machine continues on its trajectory. If the object were to move closer to the machine, the object will enter the hazard zone before reaching the machine and the machine will enter autonomous mode and enter a safe state.

The remote operator responsible for the machine will receive a text message and the remote operator is required to return to the machine to ensure the machine is in an acceptable condition to return to autonomous mode and resume its mission. This system design limits the required number of touch points by the customer while still ensuring the safety of people in the proximity of the machine.

Toro believes it has found the ideal safety bubble, because returning to manual mode too often limits effortless execution. “It’s a happy medium between making sure it’s safe and eliminating false detects and stopping because of objects not in its trajectory,” Meemken says.

LiDAR capabilities, which use light in the form of a pulsated laser to measure distances, further separates the GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower from traditional mowers. LiDAR allows the mower to operate in a myriad of conditions.

“That’s really, really valuable in our markets,” Meemken says. “It can operate in the rain, it can operate in the dark, it can operate in the fog.”

Toro is incorporating GeoLink Autonomous technology into the Greensmaster eTriFlex 3360, a popular and proven hybrid mower with all-electric components. A slight cutting unit adjustment disperses clippings (the machine operates without baskets) low enough to prevent interference with the obstacle detection system.

The Greensmaster cutting units have been configured for fairway use and include EdgeSeries reels, fairway EdgeMax bedknives, high height of cut kits, wide wiehle front rollers and rear roller brushes. “We have an order-this-and-you’re-ready-to-go mentality with the fairway mower,” Ische says.

The lag between the arrival of a GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower and it becoming operational is minimal. Similar to a GPS-guided sprayer, fairway boundaries are mapped after one manual pass using the addition of RTK technology. Maps are saved immediately, allowing connected users to establish missions consisting of various mowing patterns and alignments on a web interface accessible from any device with internet access.

The precision of RTK technology eliminates the human judgment required to mow exact stripes or patterns — and prevents scalping. Users receive updates on missions via text messages. After a user inspects a fairway for potential obstacles such as branches, golf balls and other debris, they’re able to work somewhere else on the hole being mowed or elsewhere on the course.

“The map is already created and all they are doing is making sure the machine is operating and making sure there are no sticks or flags in the way,” Meemken says. “The machine is going to mow where you designate it to go.”

Mission data is saved into the app, and operators will quickly learn the exact time required to mow various patterns. The data allows courses to make smarter mowing and resource allocation decisions. “Most people we talk to aren’t trying to replace a laborer, they are trying to do more with the labor they have,” Ische says.

Superintendent input will help shape the evolution of the GeoLink Solutions Autonomous Fairway Mower. Once more courses begin deploying the mower into regular maintenance programs, more productivity-boosting applications will be discovered. Every few months Toro will be releasing remote software updates. One click will allow users to begin benefiting from the latest features incorporated into the machine.

“Our messaging to the customer is that we are just getting started,” Meemken says. “We are invested in this technology — and we are invested in the future.”