Thursday, March 1, 2018
Lefthand Robotics Aims To Eliminate Shoveling Snow, With SnowBot
Are you really, really, really tired of having to shovel show? A Longmont-based startup, Left Hand Robotics, says it has developed a self-driving robot which eliminates the chore of removing snow from sidewalks, promising a future world where you might not have to drag yourself out into the driveway in the freezing cold to shovel snow. Left Hand--which is currently targeting its systems to the commercial, snow management market--said today that its systems are now operating at pilot customer locations across North America.
The company hopes to ramp production in 2018 for its first product, the SnowBot Pro. The company said that its robot the tedious work of snow shoveling is the "ideal task for a robot", and that the device is now being pilot at hospitals, airports, business and academic campuses, retail shopping centers, and local municipalities. The robot replaces what typically takes eight snow shovelers, using such advanced technologies as LIDAR, thermal sensors, and GPS navigation to clear snowy sidewalks. How much does this technological wonder cost? Unfortunately, for home users, the company says the base price of its robots will start at $32,000, plus an annual software subscription, and will be targeted at commercial users. Snowbot says it is in the midst of a funding round, hopefully complete this spring, which will go to ramp its robot into production.