A domestic robotic system that includes a robot, which is programmed to move within a working area defined by a boundary and has one or more boundary distance sensors that enable it to estimate the current distance from the boundary； the robot is programmed firstly so as to move across the working area and, secondly, so that when the boundary distance sensors indicate that the robot is a distance X away from the boundary and is approaching the boundary, the robot begins performing a gradual turn； this gradual turn is such that: the robot progressively changes direction while continuing to move across said working area； and the robot transitions from approaching the boundary to receding from the boundary； the robot is also programmed so as to calculate a path for the gradual turn such that, during the gradual turn, the robot approaches the boundary to a predetermined closest distance, E, and thereafter recedes from the boundary.
