Singing Automowers

Thanks to our nerdy love for engineering and robotics, thousands of Automower® models will be able to sing happy birthday to the loneliest robot in the universe – Curiosity Rover on Mars.

As background information, the Mars Curiosity Rover sang Happy Birthday – to itself – on its very first birthday in 2013. Since then, its birthdays have passed unnoticed, as the NASA engineers had to save on its batteries. Curiosity Rover’s 10th birthday is on August 5th and Husqvarna has decided to finally give the Curiosity Rover the celebration it deserves, orchestrated by our Automower robots on earth.

To achieve this, Husqvarna has developed an update for Automower, enabling it to sing Happy Birthday. The update is available to a total of 100,000 Automower models around the world (415X and 435X AWD). The technology is based on the robotic mower’s existing alarm signal, using the integration platform IFTTT to enable the mowers to sing Happy Birthday.

How to join the Automower® choir

Users will be notified about the update through the Husqvarna Automower Connect app where they will be asked to install the update. Consumers can then decide if they want to join the choir. If they opt in, Automower will automatically start singing at 12pm, 3pm and 6pm (any local time) on August 5th, as an homage to Curiosity’s 10-year anniversary on Mars. Important: the latest firmware needs to be installed for the mower to be able to sing.

Following Mars Curiosity Rover’s birthday, Husqvarna will make the Happy Birthday song available to owners of the three Automower models permanently from the beginning of September, adding joy to future family birthdays.

Your Automower can participate if you have:
a 405X, 415X, or 435X AWD;
updated firmware;
an AutomowerConnect account and mower is paired with it.

5 Steps to Teach Automower to Sing Happy Birthday to Rover on Mars & Family

If you have a compatible Automower, you’ll receive a new message in Explore explaining what to do.

1. Go to the SmartHome section and select the Curiosity Rover card at the top.
2. Click on Connect Date & Time so the mower will sing August 5th at noon, 3pm and 6pm.
3. That will bring you to IFTTT where you link your Automower account to the IFTTT account.
4. Select which mower to sing.
5. Click “Done”.