AusLeisure

Husqvarna has launched its ground-breaking robotic solution for commercial turf care management into the Australian market having been successfully introduced to a select number of European markets during 2022.

Husqvarna CEORA™ is expected to revolutionise an industry dominated by heavy, conventional petrol powered mowers by automating time and resource consuming tasks and, at the same time, helping to reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 83% during the machine’s life cycle compared to a petrol Husqvarna P 525DX ride-on mower*.

Husqvarna is a world leader in robotic mowing solutions, and with CEORA™, a new standard has been set for large-scale robotic commercial turf care. After the introduction on a number of European markets, the reception has been extremely positive, underlining – among many things – the great cutting quality and the consistently good turf quality over time.

Pauline Nilsson, Vice President at Husqvarna Australia notes “we have seen a rapid acceleration of the use of robotic lawn mowers for commercial turf care in Europe over the past few years and it’s clear that CEORA™ is a solution that lives up to the expectations and hopes of greenkeepers, golf course and sports fields managers, and we are looking forward to seeing the same acceleration occur here in Australia."

Reducing your carbon footprint
The benefits of choosing CEORA™ are many, especially for professionals caring for large grass areas. Switching from conventional commercial mowers, is estimated to result in cost savings up to 50%^, and the electric operation of autonomous machines, minimises noise and reduces CO2 emissions significantly.

Nilsson adds “Husqvarna is dedicated to a sustainable future, leading the industry with low-carbon, battery-powered, resource-smart solutions. Through pioneering solutions, we empower people to make sustainable choices daily.”

Over the complete product lifecycle – from production via transportation and operation, to end-of-life – the overall carbon footprint can be reduced by as much as 83%, when comparing a CEORA™ robotic mower with a petrol Husqvarna P 525DX ride-on mower*.

The comparison is made on a scenario of a 30-week cutting season per year. The Lifecycle assessment (LCA) is based on the functional unit of cutting two football pitches (16,000 sqm) of average pitch grass lawn. CEORA is powered by EU electricity grid mix and Husqvarna P 525DX is powered by standard diesel. Result in global warming potential per season (kg CO2e/season)*.

A wide range of benefits
The machine is purpose-built to be autonomous and is designed with safety in mind. Future releases will see CEORA™ evolve to have a wide range of accessories to support the various needs of green space professionals.

Kylie Berge, Robotics Acceleration Manager at Husqvarna Australia shares “we’re actually just seeing the start of all that can be made possible with CEORA™.

“We see there could be overall cost savings that users of CEORA™ could experience, such as being able to free up staff from time consuming, repetitive tasks, allowing them to use their expertise for more varied and value-adding tasks, is an enormous benefit for just about any maintenance or landscaping business in our market.”

Healthier grass with minimal maintenance
CEORA™ makes the lawn greener and denser thanks to its unique cutting technology, low weight and opportunity to mow more frequently. Instead of manually operating the mower, green space professionals can simply use their smartphone to control how, when and where CEORA™ mows. The performance on the lawn is efficient and systematic, mowing in a lane-by-lane sequence. Maintenance during the season is limited to changing blades and cleaning.

Flexible operation and intuitive control
CEORA™ is robustly built and easy to manage even for somebody with little experience using robotic mowers. Greenkeepers can expect CEORA™ to navigate with a precision of 2-3 centimetres, thanks to Husqvarna’s satellite navigation system, EPOS™. It is possible to select individually defined areas on demand, with different schedules as well as height-settings. The user keeps perfect control of all mowers in the fleet, through the Husqvarna Fleet Services application. CEORA™ is backed by Husqvarna’s maintenance and support program, providing fast repair and replacement services.

Obstacle detection
CEORA™ is designed to avoid obstacles. With the ultrasonic remote object avoidance system, the mower slows down soon as it senses an approaching object. As a positive side effect, this increases uptime by eliminating interruptions and undesired stops.

Availability
Husqvarna introduces two models to Australia: Husqvarna CEORA™ 544 EPOS and Husqvarna CEORA™ 546 EPOS, complemented by a an existing commercial robotics range: Husqvarna Automower® 550, Husqvarna Automower® 550 EPOS and Husqvarna Automower® 535AWD models.

^Based on calculations made by Husqvarna in June 2023, using estimates of total cost of ownership of CEORA™ compared with a conventional ride-on-mower, on average over a 5-year period. Calculations of total cost of ownership include installation, staff, energy consumption, service, maintenance and repairs in Australia on average.

*Lifecycle assessment performed by accredited European analyst Ramboll and reviewed by 3rd party reviewer Research institute of Sweden (RISE). The comparison is made based on a scenario of a 30-week cutting season (an April–October season in North Europe) per year. The Lifecycle Assessment (LCA) is based on the functional unit of cutting two football pitches (16,000 sqm) of average pitch grass lawn. CEORA™ is powered by EU electricity grid mix and Husqvarna P 525DX is powered by standard diesel. Result in global warming potential per season (kg CO²e/season).

More information on Husqvarna Ceora™ here

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