In the mind of Björn Mannefred, Manager Software Engineering
I got asked some time ago how it came that I had stayed for 10 years with Husqvarna Group. The answer was really easy to give, but the more I keep thinking about it, the deeper it gets.
The first Robot that I bought was for my wife’s grandparents. It seemed to me like a huge investment for just cutting the grass, but when the visits from their grandchildren with families turned into playing and enjoying the garden rather than staying away from the petrol lawnmower (fine Klippo though) it was obviously creating a big value in their lives. Astrid (the Robotic Lawnmower that is) has now moved on to help my mother-in-law maintain close to 3000 m2 of grass in her garden, her favorite place on earth. Again, turning the garden into a place of joy and friendship rather than a place of pain, noise, and work.
Joining Husqvarna Group: 335 years of innovation
Back in 2014, when I told my neighbor I got a new job at Husqvarna Group, with research on the Automower, he thought I was crazy.
”Stay at home and look at my lawn instead, it’s already perfect!”, he told me.
He was running a Husqvarna Automower 220AC, so in one sense he was right, it is a legendary product. However, there were some minor things that we wanted to address; How much grass can we mow? How steep can we go? Do we really need that boundary wire? What is the robot's perception of the lawn actually, and how does that correlate with its capabilities? What about these annoying buzz-words Connectivity and Data really popular around 2014 and 2015? As an engineer, deep-diving into technologies to address these opportunities was really a thrill!
New Role in 2018: Leading Software Design
For me, the journey slightly shifted direction in 2018 when I joined Husqvarna Robotics R&D Team as a Software Design Manager, right into the heat of a project that led to a completely new generation of technical possibilities, including Firmware Update Over the Air.
With the new modular architecture, we could finally bring life to Husqvarna Automower CEORA, our robotic mower range for large-scale turf care. By blending existing platforms with new software capabilities, we achieved this milestone, marking a shift in focus from the robot itself to the value it provides. In this journey, the focus of the organization also shifted from the Robot itself to the values that it is actually adding, and with this, functionality started to move more freely between the Mower, the App, and the Cloud - something that feels completely natural today.
Teamwork and Cutting-Edge Tech
Well, with all the fantastic customer values, technologies, and products we have, what really makes me stay with Husqvarna Group is my colleagues! Coming to work every day with people who actually make these things happen despite any challenge. People who are truly bold, genuinely dedicated, and dare to show how much they care about each other and cutting-edge technology.
Who wouldn't want to be a part of a team like that? I'm definitely in!