Robot mower marketing throws a lot of acronyms around. Underneath them are three or four genuinely different jobs a mower has to do: know where the lawn ends, know where it currently is, and notice obstacles in front of it. Different technologies handle different parts of that, and most modern machines combine several.
The technologies
Boundary wire. A buried loop that the mower detects directly. It solves the “where does the lawn end” problem without any reference to the outside world, which is why it is unaffected by tree cover or satellite conditions. It does not by itself tell the mower where it is within the lawn.
GNSS. The general term for satellite positioning — GPS is one such system among several. On its own, consumer-grade GNSS is not precise enough to hold a mowing boundary.
RTK. A correction technique layered on top of GNSS, using a second receiver at a known fixed position to sharpen the fix substantially. This is what makes satellite-defined virtual boundaries practical, and it is why RTK-based systems usually involve a separate piece of hardware — see do you need an antenna or reference station.
Vision. Onboard cameras, used for obstacle detection and, in some systems, for positioning by recognizing surroundings. Vision does not depend on satellite reception, but it does depend on what the cameras can see.
LiDAR. Laser-based ranging, used by some manufacturers for mapping and obstacle detection.
These are not alternatives so much as ingredients. A single mower may use satellite positioning for the boundary, cameras for obstacles, and wire as an option.
What the models we track actually use
Navigation technology and boundary type, as published
| Model | Navigation technology | Needs a buried wire | Needs antenna or base station |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANTHBOT Genie 1000 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| ANTHBOT Genie 3000 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| ANTHBOT Genie 600 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Husqvarna Automower 410 iQ | RTK GNSS + Boundary wire | No | Yes |
| Husqvarna Automower 415X | Boundary wire | Yes | Not published |
| Husqvarna Automower 435 iQ AWD | RTK GNSS + Boundary wire | No | Yes |
| Husqvarna Automower 435X AWD | Boundary wire | Yes | Not published |
| Husqvarna Automower 440 iQ | RTK GNSS + Boundary wire | No | Yes |
| Husqvarna Automower 450X EPOS | RTK GNSS | No | Yes |
| Mammotion LUBA 2 AWD 1000 | Vision + RTK GNSS | No | Not published |
| Mammotion LUBA 2 AWD 10000 | Vision + RTK GNSS | No | Not published |
| Mammotion LUBA 2 AWD 3000 | Vision + RTK GNSS | No | Not published |
| Mammotion LUBA 2 AWD 5000 | Vision + RTK GNSS | No | Not published |
| Segway Navimow i105 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Segway Navimow i110 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Segway Navimow X330 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Segway Navimow X350 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Segway Navimow X390 | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
| Yarbo Lawn Mower Module | RTK GNSS + Vision | No | Yes |
Figures come from each manufacturer's own published material. Follow a model link for the exact source and the date it was last checked.
A caution on reading that column: manufacturers describe their own systems in their own words, and a brand name for a navigation stack is not a specification. Where a manufacturer explains what its system does, we record the explanation alongside the source rather than paraphrasing it:
What this means when you are choosing
A wire-based system removes satellite conditions from the equation. If your lawn is heavily enclosed, that is a meaningful simplification — at the cost of installing and maintaining the wire.
An RTK-based system needs somewhere to put the reference hardware. That is a site question you can answer by walking your yard.
Systems combining satellite positioning with vision are described by their manufacturers as more tolerant of weak satellite reception. We record those claims with their sources above, but we have no independent way to compare how well different implementations perform, and we will not rank them.
What we can tell you is what each manufacturer publishes. Comparing two specific models side by side is the fastest way to see the difference: use the comparison tool, or run your yard through the selector to see which systems fit your constraints.