0:10
well it's taken its sweet time but
0:13
spring has finally arrived and my grass
0:15
is finally starting to grow which means
0:17
it's time to take a look at another
0:20
robot lawn mower from Mamotion last year
0:23
I did a review of their Luba which
0:25
all-wheel drive which I thoroughly loved
0:28
it became my exclusive lawnmowing device
0:32
for last year and as the year went and I
0:34
learned how to use it it just kept kept
0:36
getting better and better so I'm excited
0:38
to take a look at their Yuka series this
0:40
year and so we're going today to jump in
0:43
get things unboxed and start the process
0:46
let's dive in the setup process is
0:49
largely a matter of taking it out of the
0:51
box and setting up the reference station
0:54
and charging station and so this is
0:57
where the mower will go to dock and
0:59
charge itself and the reference station
1:01
is what allows it to communicate across
1:04
all of your property and so that you
1:05
have constant communication even if
1:07
you're on a remote site and so as you
1:10
can see that process is pretty quick and
1:12
straightforward now to be fair this is
1:15
not the first time that I've done it so
1:16
I kind of know my motions process
1:18
however I do think that they have
1:20
expedited the process even relative to
1:22
the Luba that I reviewed last year there
1:25
was no final assembly to be done on the
1:27
mower itself meaning that basically all
1:29
I was doing was setting up the reference
1:31
station and the garage this upper garage
1:34
being an op optional accessory for it
1:37
but the base station that was basically
1:38
all that I was setting up after that
1:41
it's just a matter of connecting through
1:43
the app i went ahead and ran a couple of
1:45
firmware updates one for the reference
1:47
station one for the mower itself and now
1:49
all I've got to do is map out the space
1:52
that I want it to mow so let's jump in
1:54
and do that motion has a new auto
1:57
mapping feature and as you can see it
1:59
was trying to find the edges the problem
2:02
is is that my yard is really really
2:04
complex with multiple tiers different
2:06
zones that are not even directly
2:08
connected and need pads connecting them
2:10
it's just too complex an operation to be
2:13
done through the auto mapping and so I
2:15
had to do the typical manual setup which
2:17
is really quite easy to do once you
2:19
learn how you basically just manually
2:22
drive the mower around the perimeter of
2:24
the edges that you want to define and
2:26
then you can add different things like
2:29
no cut zones around trees or planters
2:33
you can add pathways as I've had to do
2:35
to connect different zones to each other
2:38
and as we'll see in just a moment
2:39
there's even more things that you can
2:41
add with the sweeper unit
2:49
so I'm going to experiment with another
2:51
aspect of the Yuka design that is
2:53
different from the Luba that I reviewed
2:55
last year and that is that you can add a
2:57
sweeper/bag attachment and then even
3:00
program it to dump and so that's going
3:02
to be particularly useful I think during
3:03
the season where you have leaves that's
3:05
not the case right now but what I do
3:07
have unfortunately is some weeds and so
3:09
I'm going to spend a little time i'm
3:11
going to be popping up some of these
3:13
weeds and pulling them and rather than
3:15
trying to collect them into a bucket or
3:17
something I'm just going to eject them
3:18
out on the ground everywhere I go and
3:21
then I'm going to use that yuba
3:22
attachment and see if it will come
3:24
around and sweep those up and dump them
3:27
in a pre-ordained spot let's see if it
3:29
works all right here's the mess we've
3:31
got before we run the sweeper now unlike
3:35
the assembly of the mower itself this
3:37
did take a little bit of work and that
3:40
included checking for an additional
3:41
battery which comes with the sweeper kit
3:43
which I didn't need it was already
3:45
installed but it's nice to have a backup
3:46
battery then assembling the bag assembly
3:49
the sweeper itself attaching it to the
3:51
mower and one last thing is there's a
3:53
counterwe that goes at the top to help
3:54
it okay that process took a little bit
3:56
more work than what it did in terms of
3:58
the initial setup however I think I've
4:01
got everything done correctly now and I
4:03
noticed that when I went into the app it
4:05
opened up two extra options in there one
4:07
of those was sweep and the other was
4:09
dump and so now I'm going to work to try
4:11
to program it to include sweeping as a
4:13
part of the process and then to program
4:16
a dump spot we'll see how intuitive that
4:19
process is let's dive in you have the
4:21
option to either program it to just
4:24
sweep or to mow and sweep you're going
4:27
to want to establish a few extra
4:30
settings and then also make sure to
4:31
designate your dump zone and then you
4:33
basically just stand back and let it do
4:50
really a pretty impressive job here
4:51
there's maybe three uh little clumps
4:55
that I have found that I pulled out so
4:57
overall really impressive and so I've
4:59
been using the Yuka 3000 for about 3
5:03
weeks at this point using it exclusively
5:05
for cutting my lawn now as you've
5:08
already seen my lawn is really really
5:10
complex and so that kind of plays into
5:13
my opinion of a robot lawnmower because
5:16
if it doesn't work efficiently kind of
5:19
with that automating that I'm looking
5:20
for well it kind of defeats the point
5:24
and so I've evaluated how well it does
5:26
throughout this time so let me give you
5:28
after real world use it's running behind
5:31
me right now let me talk to you about
5:33
what I like and what I don't like about
5:35
it and how it compares in some ways to
5:38
the Luba uh all-wheel drive that I
5:40
reviewed last year so as far as things
5:42
that I like uh as you have seen the
5:45
sweeper and the automatic dumping when
5:47
it works it works impressively well i
5:50
believe that this at least to this point
5:51
from what I've seen is a technology that
5:54
only Mimotion has developed and so it's
5:56
really really cool that you do have that
5:59
capability that flexibility of being
6:01
able to clean your lawn particularly if
6:03
you have the kind of lawn where a lot of
6:04
leaves fall onto it or junk gets on it
6:07
the ability to not just trim the grass
6:09
but be able to have it cleaned up and
6:12
that to be dumped elsewhere that's
6:14
really really cool and in certain
6:16
applications the right applications
6:18
which I'll get to in just a second I
6:19
think it works pretty fantastic i also
6:22
what I I really really like about the
6:24
Mimotion app and like any kind of new
6:27
app it takes a little while for you to
6:30
kind of learn how to make it work uh the
6:32
best way and so I found that I last year
6:35
I did my review of the the Luba but then
6:38
I progressively used it throughout the
6:40
remainder of the year and the more I
6:41
learned about the app and where I could
6:43
tweak it to do exactly where I I I what
6:45
I wanted it became truly effortless to
6:48
where the mower was just fully automated
6:50
and did everything that I wanted and so
6:52
their app is has a great deal of
6:54
complexity but there is a little bit of
6:56
a learning curve but once you learn how
6:58
to use it it really really is useful i
7:01
also find that with these robot
7:03
lawnmowers in general but it certainly
7:06
was true with the the yuka is that
7:08
particularly early in the season as we
7:10
are right now I'm fighting the battle
7:11
against weeds and so being able to have
7:14
your grass trimmed often and thus you
7:17
can set it at maybe a little bit of a
7:19
higher height kind of what's the optimal
7:21
height and maybe cut it every few days
7:23
no skin off your back right and so by
7:26
doing that you're actually helping to
7:28
fight against weeds and so that you get
7:30
a healthier lawn not that my lawn is
7:32
always a great reflection of that i have
7:33
terrible soil here however you know
7:36
after a while I start looking at my lawn
7:38
and saying "Hey that looks pretty
7:40
fantastic." And so it certainly does
7:42
help with with uh dealing with weeds as
7:44
well one advantage of the Yuka as
7:48
opposed to the Luba all-wheel drive the
7:50
Luba all-wheel drive has amazing grip
7:52
it's got those very knobbyby tires
7:55
however it because it's all-wheel drive
7:57
it turns a little bit more in a clunky
8:00
fashion the uh the Yuka has only three
8:03
wheels and so it because of that though
8:05
however it's able to turn a little
8:06
tighter way and also it doesn't tear up
8:09
the ground as a product of as a part of
8:11
doing that now the downside is it
8:13
doesn't have as nearly as much grip as
8:15
the Luba does but if your concern is is
8:18
you don't like the potential damage to
8:20
your lawn well it does a pretty good job
8:23
of that i appreciate the fact with the
8:25
Yuka that it actually charges from the
8:27
front and it makes sense that it needs
8:29
to charge from the front when you
8:31
consider the fact that you could have
8:32
the the sweeper and bag attachment put
8:35
onto it and so it couldn't back into
8:36
charge like the uh the Luba does and so
8:39
I but I also just find that it's able to
8:42
just kind of do it in a more direct
8:43
fashion it just pulls in uh you know it
8:45
starts a charging process it doesn't
8:47
have to do like the mini point turn to
8:49
back in and and so I just I just found
8:52
to be a little bit more efficient than
8:53
what I found with the Luba overall uh it
8:56
is very very quiet in operation now I
8:58
will say that when you have the sweeper
8:59
attached the sweeper actually makes more
9:01
noise than what the mower itself does
9:04
but by itself it is so quiet that you
9:06
could run at any time of the day and not
9:08
disturb anyone yourself or the neighbors
9:10
and so it's very good and even with the
9:12
um with the sweeper attachment on it's
9:15
still really really quiet compared to an
9:16
ordinary lawn mower i also appreciate
9:19
the fact that you end up with
9:20
mathematically perfect lines and it kind
9:22
of blows people's minds when they uh
9:25
they come and they or they they see my
9:27
lawn it's like how do you get your line
9:29
so straight well it's like well I'm
9:31
probably not capable of getting my lines
9:33
that straight but these are
9:35
mathematically perfect it will do the
9:37
same thing every time and and the longer
9:39
it goes and the more that those lines
9:41
get grooved in the more fantastic it
9:43
looks and so I do really appreciate that
9:46
mathematical precision that comes from
9:48
that i love the fact that the whole
9:50
recharging process and and in this case
9:52
really the whole process is is automated
9:55
and so you don't have to worry about you
9:57
know when it gets low on battery it'll
9:59
go and it'll charge itself it'll go back
10:01
and finish the job you don't really once
10:03
you have everything set up it just works
10:05
you have it scheduled it just does what
10:07
you needed to do and you really can be
10:09
very handsoff in the whole process which
10:11
is kind of the point i do finally
10:14
appreciate the fact that I have really
10:16
found with Mimotion that their products
10:18
they're really great with firmware
10:19
updates and the firmware updates are not
10:21
just fixing bugs but rather they are
10:24
they're adding new features they're
10:26
making the app more user friendly
10:28
they're giving you more finite control
10:29
they just really really follow up on
10:32
their products and continue to maintain
10:34
them i find that to be very very
10:35
impressive so all that's great what
10:38
about some things that I don't like well
10:41
I find relative particularly to the Luba
10:43
that I reviewed last year again it's
10:45
all-wheel drive and it has much grippier
10:47
tires i find that the Yuka is far more
10:49
likely to get stuck than what the Luba
10:52
does now uh I only there's only one spot
10:55
that I finally had to program out to
10:57
avoid because there was this place that
10:59
it would sometimes get stuck uh you know
11:02
kind of going down a bit of a slope and
11:03
the the ground there's not as much grass
11:05
there so it would get softer and it
11:06
would spin out there but in that
11:09
situation I have no doubt that the Luba
11:10
would have done just fine uh because
11:12
it's all-wheel drive and once I attach
11:16
the sweeper unit on there the sweeper
11:18
unit is designed to where it's obviously
11:20
going to stick down and it's going to
11:22
spin but even when it's raised up there
11:24
are times if the ground is uneven and
11:26
unfortunately I've got a fair bit of
11:27
this that around here where it can just
11:31
it'll kind of sense that it's not
11:33
getting full traction and it's quick to
11:35
say that the robot stuck and it's not
11:38
always actually stuck you know I can
11:39
come up and times just manually drive it
11:42
out without even touching the unit but
11:44
uh once you put that sweeper on there I
11:46
do find that you're more prone to run
11:48
into issues in general and so um and you
11:51
need to make sure you've got enough room
11:53
for example where you're dumping like
11:55
right now it's over there dumping and
11:57
I've had to play with the the dumping
11:59
spots to make sure that there's
12:01
sufficient you know clearage around it
12:03
for it to go in and do its thing and
12:06
dump and not get messed up in that
12:07
process the other thing is that you'll
12:10
see video footage of these in operation
12:13
and you know they'll look like pristine
12:15
as they're going along you put that
12:16
sweeper on there and particularly the
12:19
the rear of the unit and the bag all of
12:22
that it's going to get dirty and uh and
12:24
really dirty and so just so you know if
12:26
you're expecting this robot to go around
12:28
looking pristine all the time not going
12:31
to happen and that is is like it
12:34
quadruples in terms of that being true
12:37
if you have that sweeper attached to it
12:38
because it's literally picking up you
12:40
know dirt and and junk off the lawn and
12:43
it's throwing it back into that bag so
12:45
it creates dust in the process so just
12:47
be aware of that so what's my conclusion
12:50
on this as far as the pricing the the
12:54
Luba 2 all-wheel drive that I reviewed
12:56
last year it's expensive it retails for
12:58
around 3,500 bucks the Yuka 3000 is
13:01
considerably less expensive you can get
13:04
it for uh right under or right around
13:08
$2,000 however that is coming without
13:11
the sweeper attachment and if you're
13:12
kind of buying into the Yuka because you
13:15
love the idea of that sweeper attachment
13:17
and it automatically dumping you're
13:19
going to need to plan on spending
13:21
probably an additional $650 is what it
13:24
seems to be in the kit the final pricing
13:26
it's not seems to be finalized from what
13:28
I can tell but uh you're going to you're
13:31
going to be looking at probably in the
13:33
$2,600 range if you want it with the
13:35
sweeper attached but even so you're
13:37
still talking about about $1,000 savings
13:40
compared to the yuka and so my
13:42
conclusion is is that if you have a a
13:44
flat lawn where you don't really need
13:46
all-wheel drive I think that the Yuka it
13:48
it mows in a very similar fashion and
13:51
you have that potential killer feature
13:52
in terms of the sweeper that you really
13:54
can't get on the Luba and so if you have
13:56
a a fairly uncomplicated lawn that is
14:00
relatively flat I would say go with the
14:02
Yuka if you have a more complex lawn as
14:04
I do the Yuba did fine on all of these
14:07
things if I didn't have the sweeper
14:09
attached it did get stuck more than what
14:11
I would like with the sweeper attached
14:13
and so I would say for my lawn being
14:15
more complicated and frankly having
14:18
places where things can get stuck
14:20
because there is some dirt and not you
14:22
know grass that it can grip as well I
14:24
would say that I'm probably better
14:25
served with the luba myself but your
14:27
mileage being vary and hopefully this
14:29
review gives you a clearer picture of of
14:32
which one is going to work better for
14:34
you i will say that Mimotion seems to be
14:36
kind of killing it as far as the overall
14:39
technology here and designing products
14:41
that just really really work well uh I I
14:44
was a little bit skeptical when I went
14:46
into my initial review and even in the
14:48
early process with the Luba last year
14:50
before I kind of learned how to maximize
14:52
its potential i was like "Yeah it's cool
14:54
but you know not amazing." Once I got
14:56
everything kind of tweaked properly I
14:59
was just amazed by how good it was so
15:01
much so that I actually sold my lawn
15:03
tractor last fall it's like when am I
15:05
ever going to use this again so I think
15:07
that's about as good as endorsement as I
15:08
can get you want more information you
15:10
can check out the linkage in the
15:12
description down below as always thanks
15:14
for watching have a great day and let
