---
title: "Guy Builds Terrifying Laser-Powered Lawn Mower"
description: "YouTuber Daniel Riley invented and built a laser-powered lawn mower — the epitome of something you shouldn't try to replicate at home."
date: "2022-09-06"
modified: "2022-09-06"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/terrifying-laser-powered-lawn-mower"
categories:
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "lasers"
  - "lawn"
  - "the digest"
---

# Guy Builds Terrifying Laser-Powered Lawn Mower

![YouTuber Daniel Riley invented and built a laser-powered lawn mower — the epitome of something you shouldn't try to replicate at home.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/terrifying-laser-powered-lawn-mower.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: rctestflight/YouTube\</em\>*

## Laser Mower

YouTuber Daniel Riley unleashed his inner mad scientist by building a [laser-powered lawn mower](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTPHsouuGq4>) — the epitome of something you shouldn't try to replicate at home.

His terrifying invention makes use of a 40-watt CNC cutting machine laser that's roughly 8,000 times as powerful as a laser pointer, as well as a 3D-printed gimbal to blitz unsuspecting grass blades into oblivion.

https://youtu.be/WTPHsouuGq4

## Blinding Light

Make no mistake, there's no universe in which this is safe.

"It's not going to cut your finger off or anything like that," Riley warned in his video, "but a direct hit to your eyeball, even for just a nanosecond, would make you blind for the rest of your life."

Worst of all, Riley's invention is incredibly inefficient, felling grass and other weeds in a narrow beam over an entire week.

The result is a cone-shaped area of singed organics ready for the green bin, not the kind of clean-cut lawn you'd expect from even a budget lawnmower.

A remotely controlled, laser-wielding contraption that uses tank treads didn't prove to be much more helpful, either, covering a single foot of grass in two agonizingly long hours.

In short, it's exactly the kind of invention you'd see a YouTuber come up with: not to actually serve a useful purpose, but to give their audience a chuckle — and we're here for it.

**More on YouTube inventions:** *[Madman Invents Robot Suit That Lets Snake Walk With Legs](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/snake-legs-robotic-exoskeleton>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)