From lawnmowers to pool cleaners, garden robots crowd the stage at IFA 2025

As key markets for garden robotics, Europe and the US have long been crowded with competing brands. At IFA (Innovation For All), one of the world’s largest consumer technology exhibitions, established players and new entrants used the stage to introduce products and signal their strategies.

European consumers are familiar with robotic lawn mowers thanks to years of exposure to wired models, and adoption has grown steadily. Over the past year, penetration rates in European markets such as Germany, France, and Switzerland rose from below 15% to about 30–40%.

Robotic lawnmower booths again drew attention at IFA. Mammotion, Dreame, Ecovacs Robotics, and Mova each unveiled products showcasing improvements in hardware design, navigation, obstacle avoidance, and adaptive cutting for varied terrains. Roborock, after years of speculation, formally entered the category with its first robotic mowers, a move likely to increase competition.

In pool cleaning, Aiper introduced a new model, while several lawnmower makers expanded into the segment. Mammotion, Dreame, and Mova displayed pool robots, reflecting a broader push to diversify product lines.

The overall message was consistent: companies are accelerating launch cycles and expanding into each other’s categories to demonstrate technical capability. The garden robotics sector is moving quickly.

Roborock enters the field

Roborock debuted its first robotic lawn mowers at this year’s IFA. Ecovacs Robotics and Dreame have already established footholds in the segment, but Roborock entered with the advantage of a strong reputation in robotic vacuums, where its algorithms and user experience are well regarded.

The company introduced three models:

The Z1 also improves trimming along lawn edges. While some mowers leave strips wider than seven centimeters, it reduces this to three centimeters by cutting slightly beyond the boundary.

Mammotion introduces multi-sensor navigation system

Core navigation technologies continue to shape robotic mower performance, with each approach fitting different market segments:

Each has tradeoffs. LiDAR loses accuracy in open spaces, RTK struggles near obstructions, and vision alone falters in low light.

Mammotion introduced the Tri-Fusion system, a navigation solution that combines LiDAR, RTK, and vision. Its algorithm reportedly switches modules in real time depending on lighting, terrain, and obstacles, delivering centimeter-level precision without boundary wires or external base stations. The system is already in Mammotion’s Luba mini AWD LiDAR mower, and existing users can upgrade without additional cost.

A robotic mower with a mechanical arm

NexLawn, a garden tech brand under Mova, presented the Master X, a robotic mower with a foldable mechanical arm extending from 44.5 to 77 centimeters with a reach of up to one meter. The arm enables the machine to handle cluttered spaces and perform tasks beyond mowing.

By swapping tools, the arm can pick up objects, trim edges, water plants, or pick fruit. It can also toss small balls for pets.

The feature, however, introduces challenges. It requires advanced real-time vision algorithms, complicates integration, raises R&D and manufacturing costs, and demands strong safety protocols. Industry opinion remains divided on whether such complexity will prove commercially viable.

The pool robot crossover

The pool cleaning segment is emerging as a new competitive front:

Over the past year, the garden robotics sector has expanded into adjacent categories and new markets. As high-end demand in Europe and the US levels off and customer needs grow more diverse, the companies that prevail will be those able to pair localized strategies with cost-efficient innovation, making advanced features accessible to a broader base of users.

KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This article was written by Huang Nan for 36Kr.

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