The Trimbot 2020 project was launched at the beginning of 2016, with a planned 48 month duration. The aim of the European Commission-funded program – led by the University of Edinburgh, and involving partners Bosch, the University of Amsterdam, University of Freiburg, University of Groningen, ETH Zurich and Wageningen University and Research – was to create a prototype next-gen garden maintenance bot that could be used to support farmers, help folks with limited mobility or maintain community gardens.

The original project brief called for a modified Indego lawnmower to have a robotic arm mounted atop to take care of trimming and pruning tasks.

The current battery-powered Trimbot prototype makes use of five camera pairs and 3D mapping tech to move around a garden while avoiding obstacles, and then tackles maintenance tasks using a custom trimming tool. Algorithms were developed to enable the robot to determine when a bush or hedge needed a trim. It's also capable of precision pruning of roses using a different cutting tool.

The research team says that aspects of the project could go on to inform future garden products manufactured by Bosch. The video below has more.