Review of Airseekers Tron-One Robot Mower

As the quest to build the perfect robot mower continues, there’s no shortage of Kickstarter projects full of promises to deliver the next big thing.

One of those is the new Tron-One robot mower from Airseekers. The Tron-One boasts some new and interesting features that the designers claim set it apart from previous mowers.

While we’ve had bold claims before, every so often these projects on Kickstarter deliver what they promise.

To see if Airseekers is the real deal or just another Kickstarter vaporware campaign, we’ll review the Tron-One and see if its features live up to the marketing hype and anticipation.

Who Is Airseekers?

If you haven’t heard of Airseekers, you are probably not alone. This is a relatively new company and they are launching their first product via a Kickstarter campaign.

However, they have been in the design phase for some time and we’ve several iterations of the product as they get closer to the mid-2024 release date.

Several features have been added, modified, or changed. So while the Tron-One is a work in progress, there is real work going on. This is not a vaporware product and there is legitimate R&D involved so far.

The Tron-One is still in beta testing with select users and the full production release is scheduled for June or July of 2024 if everything goes according to plan.

The Airseekers Tron-One Mower

At first glance, the Tron-One looks like a mini ATV. It has attractive styling and overall robust build quality. The chassis feels sturdy and the plastic body feels premium with a good finish.

The controls and switches on the mower feel solid and there is no sense that the mower is under-engineered or fragile. The charging base that came with the beta model was pretty standard, although we would have liked a slightly sturdier base.

However, we had no issue installing the base and once secured to the ground, held the weight of the mower just fine with no flex.

Most noticeable is the 30-degree toe-in of the front wheels of the Tron-One. The front wheels are omnidirectional and feature floating sections along the wheel’s exterior. 

Other mowers have used similar wheels and the performance has been mixed. They can sometimes cause tracking issues as the mower wanders a bit from side to side.

Airseekers says they solved this problem with the 30-degree toe-in and during our testing, the Tron-One indeed tracked straight.

The omnidirectional wheels also worked well when turning. The mower could achieve a near-zero-degree turning radius despite the front wheels being fixed in place.

So as far as the wheels, the testing Airseekers has been doing seems to have paid off as this is one of the few mowers that utilizes this technology properly.

In our testing, the mower was a bit loud compared to other mowers of the same size. Airseekers said that was due to it being a pre-production motor and the final version will be up to 30% quieter.

The Tron-One wasn’t loud by any means, so a solid noise reduction will be nice and will allow night-time mowing with zero issues.

One final feature of the mower was an external lawn striper. This spring-loaded roller can be attached and the mower will run a striping pattern along your lawn if desired.

This striping is done after the mowing, so it’s a totally separate process. 

Airseekers Tron-One Navigation

The Tron-One uses a hybrid navigation system like we’ve been seeing in other recent mowers.

The Tron-One uses a 5-camera vision system and can rely on that system for 100% navigation. However, there is an optional RTK module and antenna you can purchase for increased accuracy.

Airsekers has stated the production model of the Tron-One will be able to map the perimeter of your lawn with zero human intervention. This feature wasn’t ready for our beta test model and we had to pilot the mower around the perimeter using the app as a remote control.

It was a straightforward process and we didn’t come across any issues. 

Obstacle detection with the 5 cameras was quite good. The Tron-One was able to detect small objects far better than some other mowers we’ve tested. This includes low-level objects about an inch or two tall that many mowers will miss.

We did notice the stopping distance would change depending on the height of the object. For tall objects, it would stop and reroute well over a foot away. It might be a bit overly conservative in its avoidance and that can likely be fixed in the final production model with a simple firmware update.

The additional RTK module comes with a 5-foot antenna you can place anywhere thanks to its rechargeable battery. This means you aren’t limited by the location of a power outlet.

Overall, navigation and obstacle avoidance were strong and we were happy with the performance, especially considering this is only a beta version.

Tron-One Mowing Performance

The Tron-One boasts what it calls a “vacuum” underneath the mower itself. This is a fan that lifts the grass into the higher areas of the cutting area under the mower.

There are then dual blades that mulch the grass as it falls. The grass gets recirculated until it’s a very fine mulch.

We found this new feature does work and the mulched grass was finer than with other mowers.

Our one issue is that moist grass will likely clump up more due to this design. It’s something to be aware of, especially in wetter or more humid climates. It would be nice for the final production model to have a way to turn off this feature.

The mower has a generous height adjustment between 1.2 inches and 3.5 inches. Many smaller mowers only go up to 3 inches, so a little extra height adjustment is welcomed.

Edge detection was good, especially with the optional RTK system that we had access to. There is a separate mode for edging that will redo areas near an edge by straddling the border.

Airseekers mentioned they will have a separate edging device soon, but it won’t be available with the launch of the Tron-One.

We were impressed with the mowing performance of the Tron-One. The height adjustments were nice and the mower evenly cut to the exact height measurement we selected.

The mulching performance was also good, although some lawns may have issues with it if they are not completely dry.

Tron-One App

The app was fairly basic, but it’s also a beta version. Every feature did work, but the overall presentation was lacking with only basic buttons and text. We assume this will be changed when the final version is released.

Airseekers Tron-One Final Review

We all know about the many Kickstarter robot mowers that either never materialize or don’t live up to the hype.

While the Tron-One hasn’t officially been released yet, it’s clearly on the right path and the designers have been working hard to create something unique.

There are a few advanced features we would like to test, such as the ability to map your lawn automatically, but unfortunately, that isn’t ready yet.

However, the features we tested all worked extremely well and the mower is very close to production-ready at this stage. Airseekers shouldn’t have a problem ironing out the few last details before launching.

Speaking of launching, the Tron-One is set for a June or July public launch in 2024. Kickstarter backers will get the first versions with pre-orders coming after that.

Pricing hasn’t been set yet but estimates are that it will be priced at around $2,999. We’ll see if that price stands. If so, they might want to include the optional RTK instead of making it an extra purchase. Several mowers in that price range include the RTK base, so including it would help the Tron-One stay competitive.

But overall, this is an exciting mower and we are looking forward to testing the final version when it releases later this summer.