To fully understand this post, it is highly recommended that you read the previous post, “What it is like to have a Turflynx F315,” available here!
After the success of the F315, Turflynx is now expecting to launch her bigger sister on the market, the F340. Here is everything this new platform will be comprised of:
Just as the F315 meant F ← Fairway, 3 ← 3 units, and 15 ← 15kWh, the F340 will follow the same pattern: 40 ← 40kWh!
• Bigger battery pack:
The advances in battery technology now allow Turflynx to fit almost triple the capacity of the F315 in the same volume. That’s right, the new platform will be equipped with a 40kWh battery pack, raising autonomous time from 7hours (3.5ha capacity) to 15h30m* and 9ha capacity!
The increase in weight will be 90kg (machine total: only 730kg).
*Editor’s note: This value depends on location, but it is a conservative value.
• New arm control:
The new platform will be equipped with a new linear actuator for the arms to offer millimetre accuracy. The immediate use of this will be to offer different positions during transport between fairways, but also in between stripes.
• New light system:
As I wrote in my previous post,
“There is no light on it, except for a big orange flashing light, making it impossible to drive manually at night or early morning.”
That is now an issue of the past. The new platform is mounted with two different lighting systems:
• Front LED floodlight: Only turned on when the robot is operated manually, it will allow the user to drive in and out safely when it’s dark.
• Rear red LED: The red LED is used to insure visibility of the robot at night – not for the robot itself, but for people around it! Safety first.
Using LED lights, the low energy consumption will have no significant impact on the battery capacity.
• 4G support:
The onboard cellular modem has been upgraded to support 4G bandwidth, as a must-need for a golf course with poor cell coverage.
• New accessory connector:
This will be used in the near future to adapt more accessories to the robot, such as different mowing units, LED treatment units, or even extra sensors.
I had the opportunity to ask Marco Barbosa (Turflynx CEO) whether or not an F315 battery pack could be swapped for the new 40kWh pack, and his reply was:
“It is not possible by the end user, but a Turflynx engineer or a trained distributor can do it on site.”
Today (August 14th, 2020), the price range of the new platform has not been announced yet.
• What are my thoughts on this news?
As a previous user of the Turflynx, I am very excited by this news.
The Turflynx F315 was a rather expensive platform, and the short autonomous time was a drawback for many golf courses, as it would have required them to purchase multiple robots. With the 40kWh battery pack, it will be a lot easier to justify the purchase of a Turflynx.
The addition of millimetre-accurate arms controls and new accessory connectors is once again proving how the Turflynx platforms are built to be future-proof. Much of the technology inside can do a lot more than just mowing, but the market for accessories is not yet developed enough.
Final word: I can’t wait to get my hands on the new F340 platform!
I would like to thank Marco Barbosa for taking the time to reply to all my questions.
Non affiliated link:
Blog post: “What it is like to have a turflynx F315”:
https://thefrenchbackyard.com/2020/08/05/what-is-like-to-have-the-turflynx-f315-awd/
Turflynx website:
https://turflynx.com/
A timelaspse video of the turflynx F315 working:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-nR8OImQ-8
thefrenchbackyard.com 
Great evaluations. Want to hear more of your experiences with the autonomous equipment. Cheers!
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