In another step closer to 2015 and the takeover of jobs by robots, New York City has brought in a robot to mow the lawn in front of City Hall. A job that was done by humans until now, the Husqvarna Automower 230 ACX is currently on loan to the city so they can see how well it works. The claim is that this won’t replace any workers, but rather, give people more time to do other jobs.

Additionally, this is a battery-powered robot, so it is friendly to the environment. The Automower can mow up to 3/4 of an acre and knows to stay on the grass. Even the blades are deep inside the robot and it will shutoff automatically if tipped, greatly reducing the chance of injury.

The New York Daily News did have some advice from the Park Commissioner on what to do if encountering this robot in a park, despite the safety features:

“If you see a strange machine coming toward you,” he said, “it’s a good idea to walk away from it.”

This is great advice when encountering any robot, I believe.

Below is a video of the robot mower in action – as a bonus there is a rubber duck riding on top and the theme song from the old show “Convoy” is playing. No, I do not know why.