Autonomous Mowers and GPS Tracking Reshape Landscape Maintenance

Grounds managers blend traditional tools with emerging tech to boost efficiency, precision and sustainability

Apr. 2, 2026 at 12:00am

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A highly detailed, glowing 3D macro illustration of a futuristic autonomous lawn mower with neon cyan and magenta lights illuminating its sleek, geometric chassis and cutting blades, hovering above a lush, green lawn.Autonomous mowers and GPS-enabled equipment are reshaping landscape maintenance, allowing grounds crews to boost efficiency and sustainability.Westminster Today

As sustainability goals grow more ambitious and technology more complex, grounds and landscape managers are reshaping large-scale landscape maintenance by blending traditional equipment with data-driven technology, robotics and automation. From autonomous mowers to GPS tracking and hybrid equipment, they are creating smarter, more efficient grounds programs to deliver pristine fields and landscapes while navigating labor shortages, budget constraints and rapid technological change.

Why it matters

Maintaining landscapes around institutional and commercial buildings, sports facilities and parks has become increasingly complex. Grounds managers must find ways to improve efficiency, precision and sustainability while working with limited resources. The integration of traditional equipment and emerging technologies is helping them meet these challenges and deliver high-quality results.

The details

Even at institutions experimenting with innovative technology, traditional mower fleets remain the backbone of day-to-day operations. Managers prioritize reliability, precision and proven performance when selecting equipment. Alongside mowers, autonomous and robotic mowers are making inroads, tackling repetitive tasks and freeing up staff to focus on higher-priority work. Landscape modernization has also received a high-tech makeover, with GPS tracking and data insights optimizing activities and redefining efficiency and precision.

  • Over the last three years, Texas A&M has incorporated several autonomous mowers.
  • The city of Westminster, Colorado, has been experimenting with small and medium robotic mowers on athletic fields and landscape areas.

The players

Nick McKenna

Texas A&M's assistant athletics director for sports fields.

Lance Johnson

Oversees parks, golf and open spaces for the city of Westminster, Colorado.

Matt Bailey

Landscape services manager at Michigan State University.

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What they’re saying

“The mowers are not perfect. Sometimes, they get stuck on obstacles or lose satellite signals, but they free our staff to focus on higher-priority work. A robot mowing overnight lets our staff handle high-traffic areas during the day. We are not doing less work. We're reallocating it.”

— Nick McKenna, Texas A&M's assistant athletics director for sports fields

“Our experiments show that these robots can handle routine mowing and reduce labor intensity without sacrificing quality.”

— Lance Johnson, Oversees parks, golf and open spaces for the city of Westminster, Colorado

“It costs us about $1,000 an acre each year to mow. We have nine autonomous mowers doing some of our larger field areas. They save us around $10,000 a year. We have integrated robotic units for select sports fields, and they help maintain consistent turf quality and allow staff to focus on tasks that require more nuanced human judgment.”

— Matt Bailey, Landscape services manager at Michigan State University

What’s next

As grounds managers continue to experiment with autonomous and robotic mowers, they will likely focus on improving the reliability and performance of these technologies to further optimize their operations.

The takeaway

The integration of traditional equipment and emerging technologies is helping grounds managers meet the growing challenges of landscape maintenance, allowing them to improve efficiency, precision and sustainability while working with limited resources.