Living in a part of England where the cold-weather vibe is more 'incessant drizzle' than 'winter wonderland', the idea of snow will never not be magical to me. However, I can see that those living in countries where snow is less of a novelty, the process of keeping it clear could quickly become just another chore that you'd rather not have to bother with.
Yarbo has decided to tackle the issue by creating an autonomous snow blower, which can navigate neatly up and down your yard or driveway, blasting fresh flurries out of its way in a style that is both efficient and pleasingly dramatic. The Yarbo Snow Blower can apparently clear dry snow up to 12-inches deep, without the need for a sweaty session with a shovel. And if the snow has gotten to the 'cold grey soup' stage, you can deploy the Plow Blade attachment to gain sight of your lovely asphalt again.
Just like today's best robot vacuums and lawn bots, the Yarbo comes with a charging dock and will return to it automatically if it senses it's running out of juice. This means the Yarbo snowbot (not the official name) can continuously work to prevent snow building up on your drive.
In fact, the Yarbo bot doesn't just do snow. The company has acknowledged that most of us aren't dealing with snow year-round, so to avoid having another machine gathering dust in the garage for a big chunk of the year, this bot has a few warmer-weather tricks under its sleeve. The modular design means it can also operate as a lawn mower, a leaf blower module, or a towing robot, depending on which attachment you add on.
Whatever yardcare task you're tackling, the Yarbo bot is designed to operate largely autonomously. Like most robovacs and lawnbots it uses smart route planning, obstacle avoidance and navigation technology to make its way about and ensure it clears where it needs to clear and doesn't, for example, mulch up your prize roses (here's more on how lawn mower bots work, if you're interested). It can be controlled via an app or remote control.
Right now, you can buy just the Core Module for $3,799 direct from Yarbo, and that includes the main bot, battery, dock, remote control and 'Smart Assist module'. Alternatively, you can pick one of a number of bundles – such as the '4-in-1' bundle, which includes the Core, Snow Blower, Lawn Mower and leaf Blower modules and costs $6,999 – or put together a custom bundle of just the bot bits you need.
What's coming next?
The Yarbo bot made its debut at the last CES, and will be returning to Vegas to showcase the next-gen version at CES 2025 in January. Most of the modules will sport a "sleeker and more functional design", and there's plenty of new functionality on the cards too. There's a new data center than promises a more stable and wide-ranging connection, the Towing module will be able to handle bigger loads, and tracks will be easier to swap over, enabling you to change between mowing, blowing or cleaning in five minutes. Yarbo has now added a 'follow me' mode, where the bot uses visual tracking technology to tail its owner wherever they go.
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