Image: iRobot
In January, Roomba maker iRobot announced its next autonomous chore-doing robot: a lawnmower called Terra. Autonomous lawnmowers aren’t exactly new, but Terra is different. Unlike most robot lawnmowers, it uses wireless beacons to understand what your yard looks like rather than relying on a long, cumbersome wire that’s around the edges of your lawn.
Last we heard, the Terra was in beta. Now, iRobot tells The Verge that the beta is “progressing well,” and it expects to begin selling the Terra in the US in 2020. (iRobot wouldn’t reveal pricing.) After digging through Federal Communications Commission filings and some Terra support articles on iRobot’s website and fact-checking a few things with iRobot, it’s easier to understand how it…