Winter is coming, and along with its heaps of heavy snow.  Experts are already warning people to expect unusually strong snow storms this year.  While looking out a window at freshly fallen snow may be lovely and serene, it becomes a whole new story when you have to get out of your house.  Having to bundle up, just to start overheating as you shovel is always a fun way to induce a sore back.  Perhaps you are lucky and have a snow blower or plow to do the heavy work for you, but you still need to leave the comfort of your heated home to get the job done.  Or maybe you wait for a service to come dig you out of the snow, whenever they finally get to it.  Another problem with heavy snow fall is the potential damages it could cause to your roof which might need inspection. What if you could remove your snow buildup from the warmth of your couch on your own time schedule?  Several companies have found a way to make that possible with drone snow plows.

Two such companies are Super Droid from North Carolina and ATR Robotics from Italy.  They have both made a remote controlled drone that will plow the snow on your driveway and sidewalks without you having to do more than lift a finger.  Super Droid’s drone is called the RC 6WD, and each one is custom built per order.  The 3.16″ aluminum chassis of the drone is 38.5″W X 16″H  X 63.5″L and weighs 393lbs.  It rides low to the ground on six 13″ tiller tires with a 52″ steel plow blade attached to the front of the chassis.  It is powered by two 12V batteries and controls the movement of the plow by an air compressor.  Super Droid says this drone is strong enough to tow a pickup truck or plow through the densest snow mounds.  The whole system is controlled by a Spektrum DSMX DX6i transmitter with a fail-safe Spektrum R9020 9-Channel DSMX X-Plus receiver.

The drone by ATR Robotics is called the Orbiter.  It’s measurements are 29″W X 34″H X 47″L and weighs 772lbs.  It is close in size to a child’s ride in battery car stacked atop of treads.  It rides along on flexible tracks allowing the drone to easily navigate tough terrain like snow, mud, sand, and gravel.  The 41″ snow plow is attached to a hydroelectric stainless steel front lift and can be fitted with a Teflon blade for use other than snow plowing.  The plow can also be switched out for a 33″ front bucket that can lift 220lbs of rock salt, gravel, dirt, and more.  It also has a rear winch that can two upwards of 1,000lbs.  The Orbiter is powered by four rechargeable AGM batteries and controlled by a remote with a 490ft range.

Mercedes-Benz is also testing a similar concept, only on a much larger scale for the Arocs 2045 AS tractor.  Much like how farmers use remote controlled tractors to plant their fields, Mercedes is looking to apply this concept to the tractors used to plow runways at major airports.  It is essentially taking a giant tractor and turning it into a remote controlled drone.  The tractors will be able autonomously start and stop it’s engine, handle all gear shifts, engage parking brakes, and control the plow, blower, or sweeper attachment.  The catch is that these trucks, which would be part of a fleet upwards to 14 vehicles, need to follow a convoy leader.  This leader would be a human driver using a remote control panel to designate the jobs needed to be preformed by the rest of the trucks in the convoy.  This Automated Airfield Ground Maintenance project is currently being tested with four Arocs tractors at an airfield in Germany.

But how logical would these type of drone systems and services be for the average consumer?  Clearly the Mercedes project isn’t intended for private use as each tractor could cost millions of dollars.  The RC 6WD by Super Droid will run around $8,000 and are built on an as need basis.  ATR has yet to release the price of the Orbiter, but it is safe to assume that it will be similar to the RC 6WD.  Comparatively, a snow plow to attach to your truck can run close to $3,000 while a good snow blower can run around $1,000.  The question becomes, is being able to remotely clear snow while snug in your PJs worth the extra couple grand?

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