Can robot mowers work in the rain?

Most can, but you usually won't want them to. Robot mowers are built to live outside, and manufacturers give them water-resistance ratings such as IPX5, IPX6 or IP66, so a shower won't harm one. The question is what rain does to the lawn and to the cut.

Wet grass clumps and tears rather than slicing cleanly, clippings stick to the underside of the deck, and soft ground shows wheel tracks, especially along the route back to the charging station. Wet grass is also slippery, so a mower that copes with a slope when it's dry may slide or spin on the same bank after rain.

There are three common ways mowers deal with this:

• A rain sensor that sends the mower home when it detects water, then waits before trying again. Segway Navimow lists one on the Segway Navimow X4 Series and Segway Navimow H2 Series, for example.
• Weather-forecast scheduling in the app, which skips planned sessions when rain is due. Navimow's i2 range relies on this rather than a sensor.
• Nothing automatic, leaving you to pause the schedule yourself.

If rain behaviour matters to you, check the spec sheet for a rain sensor and whether you can set a delay after rain. Rain doesn't affect satellite RTK positioning in any meaningful way, so wire-free mowers navigate as normal. For more on wet-weather care and when to stop for the season, see our winter storage and maintenance guide.