Within a few years, a self-powered robot could be mowing your lawn

Prototype
Credit: Melissa Cannarozzi/GigaOm

Mowing grass requires energy. Some mowers use energy supplied by the user. Given a choice, most of us use some sort of motor to supply as much of the energy as possible.

So, put in a lot of energy to drive the process & at the end have a pile of unwanted grass clippings.

Tech startup EcoMow Technologies was inspired by the realization, that grass can burn, & so potentially, be a source of energy to drive the mower. Grass doesn't burn well as such, so EcoMow plans to gasify the grass as a first step.

Despite what what is written in the linked article, the grass won't actually be burned. Rather, it will be heated in the absence of air to release a combustible gas, a process called gasification. Gas produced in this way can be used to drive an internal combustion engine. Gasification can also produce gas from coal or wood chips.

http://gigaom.com/2014/01/31/within-a-few-years-a-self-powered-robot-could-be-mowing-your-lawn/

More about gasification
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasification / EcoMow powers itself power energy electricity grass harvests creator creat creators barriers entering enter consumer market develop developing development model World War II fuel rations rationing Europeans alternative means power cars burned wood chips as fuel George Mason University graduate student Jason Force technology grass pellets wood chips chip system lawn mower lawn mower power grass harvest harvested self guiding guide self-guiding self guided vacuum cleaner Roomba now self-guided self-guiding EcoMow Technologies mechanical chemical engineering test testing tested consumers consumer inverstor investors developing software robot complex complicated big challenge EcoMow too risky safer product safety safe run over pets children street cause accident $2 million development cycle consumer customer consumer customers another product larger mower harvest hay fields fuel pellets sold sophisticated guidance system chemist chemistry consumer model found support among investors production produce prototype consumer mower small model designed /