A Suburban Illinois Park District Scales Autonomous Mowing Across Five Parks

Keeping a large park system mowed on schedule

A park district that operates and maintains more than 2,400 acres has a mowing problem that never really finishes. Grass grows on the weather's schedule, not the calendar's, and every park carries its own edges, slopes and sight lines to keep tidy.

Turf that hosts programs and games has to be cut around them, and that leaves little room for a method that needs a separate project at every site. The district needed a way to keep several parks cut on a steady cadence.

A three park pilot, then a board approved expansion

The district began in 2023 with autonomous mowers at three parks, and the machines ran through that season on the district's grounds. The pilot gave staff direct experience with the equipment before any larger commitment.

At the close of the 2023 season, the district said it was pleased with how the mowers performed. The board then approved autonomous mowers for the 2024 mowing season at five parks.

The contract with the robot supplier set per acre terms, and the terms for two parks were lowered in the agreement.

• Run a pilot with autonomous mowers at three parks in 2023
• Review how the mowers performed at the end of the season
• Approve the 2024 season with autonomous mowers at five parks
• Adjust per acre terms for two parks in the supplier contract

What the district reported after 2023 and into 2024

The clearest outcome is the expansion itself. The program moved from a three park pilot to autonomous mowing at five parks for 2024, and the district kept the approach after its first season.

District scale gives that expansion context. Five parks sit inside a portfolio of more than 2,400 acres, so the program is a phased share of the work rather than a wholesale change to how the district mows.

Contract terms moved as well. Per acre terms for two of the parks were lowered, which gives other agencies and contractors a concrete example of how per acre terms can differ from site to site within one program.

What contractors and agencies can take from a phased program

For contractors bidding similar municipal work, the lesson is about scope. Per acre terms reward a clear site list, a realistic cutting schedule and a way to handle a machine that needs attention in the middle of a mowing week.

Service Robot Co. is an OEM neutral commercial robot integrator for US businesses. We select the right robots across manufacturers, then finance, deploy, integrate, train and service every unit through a nationwide US engineer network, so one partner handles the whole lifecycle.

Customers begin with a site assessment and receive a lease quoted after it, on a three year lease with one fixed robot lease payment. Site assessment mapping happens before any machine goes live, and go live support is part of the deployment.

This district's program is the subject here, not one of our projects. The lesson for grounds managers is the same either way: scope each site first, then grow the program on what the first season shows.