Will the Ecovacs GOAT O1200 LiDAR PRO work in a garden full of trees and tall hedges?

On paper, yes: a shaded, enclosed garden is the kind of plot the Ecovacs GOAT O1200 LiDAR PRO was designed for. It doesn't use satellite positioning at all. A rotating LiDAR scanner measures the distance to fixed things around the lawn, such as walls, fences, tree trunks and the house, and the mower works out its position by matching what it sees against the map it built during setup. Ecovacs backs this up with a 3D ToF sensor and an AI camera for spotting obstacles.

That matters because RTK mowers, including Ecovacs' own GOAT O RTK models, need a clear view of the sky. Overhanging branches, high hedges and the side of a house can block or bounce the signal, which is a well-known limitation of satellite-guided mowers in UK gardens.

LiDAR has its own weak spot, though. A large, open lawn with little nearby to measure against gives the scanner less to work with, so this model suits busy, bordered gardens better than a bare paddock.If most of your lawn is wide open with the nearest fence far away, an RTK model may be the better fit.

There is no RTK station and no boundary wire to install, only the charging station. Ecovacs rates it for slopes up to 45% and passages of 80 cm, though Ecovacs' own footnote says the passage figure is a lab result. Our RTK vs vision vs LiDAR guide sets out the trade-offs between the three approaches.