Robot Snowplow from Japan Eats Up Snow, Poops Out Bricks

This sno-jo doesnt solve any problems at all. It only handles loose snow and it only compresses it 8-10 times into solid ice - thats as far as you can go. And it probably spends an outrageous amount of energy doing it. Nothing you cant do manually or with a bob-cat. Its cute, but its a no-go.

I want one of those...

 it's cool and you know it ... cool has nothing to do with energy expended and bullshit like that ...

What good does this really do? What does it do with the ice bricks? Why not just shovel the snow in and melt it to leave only water behind? Kind of silly really.

Thanks for your input. The robot was developed with the aim of helping seniors in snowy northern Japan, so shoveling is what the gov't does NOT want them doing. Plus, melting the snow is only half the answer - where does the meltwater go? If it simply freezes on the spot, well, can you say "law suit"? I knew you could!

Can it handle a 450' driveway on a hill or do I need two (or three) and can I program it where to 'dump' the bricks? Do you need a beta-test site...cause I've got on in New Hampshire! Check 'em out on my homepage and we'll even take some pics of these critters against the best sunsets around!

I think that thomas must be in the snow removeal buisness.

I'm going to invent a robotic salt shaker! Then we can race them!

Gotta get one of these. the kids will love it. perfect for making igloos.

http://www.golfnorwich.com/

This robot is great, and it might serve its purpose to many of us.

@Thomas: Your mom is cute, but it's a no-go as well.

i guess innovation is the only way to find better ways of doing things, so this is one of the better inventions, but i dobut technology is all the way there to having fully automated snow plows

'Cuz it would be expensive as all heck to melt the snow and leave water behind - You'd need to carry extra fuel to heat the melters and what do you think happens with the water it leaves behind ? (If you guessed "It freezes" - You win a prize!)

It's great.. but what we can do with the bricks ?

Why did they put eyes on it?

Hrm... if only it mentioned that somewhere in the article... Golly, reading is hard work

In the eskimo magazine it is described as "an easy and fun way to build igloos". It can be bought on credit or bartered for whale meat.

talk about 'shitting bricks'

$9000? For way less then that, I can hire one of those illegal aliens to shovel my snow, report him in the spring, and have him deported. Then we don't have him sucking up Gov. benefits all summer.

There are always plenty of naysayers with anything new - and we've certainly heard from several of them above.

Personally, I think it has real, marketable possibilities as-is. In areas which get plenty of snow, for example, the 'bricks' can be stored for later cooling needs. Most of you are too young to recall that, before there were refrigerators, people did store ice blocks in the winter to keep stuff cold in the warmer months....and urban dwellers had Ice Boxes in the home. On a large scale, Supermarkets and charitable Food Banks could save a fortune in refrigeration costs by using these Ice blocks.

For a warm-weather variation - it should be possible also to equip this unit with a Mower Deck attachment on the front, for Grass cutting. Think about it! The same technology that allows it to plow the right patch of Snow, would also allow mowing your yard. (Think of it as a Roomba Vac for outside the house). Then the grass clippings can be run through the same 'brick making' process - ready to use as Hay for animal feed, in areas where the Hay supply runs short.....OR could be sold to Alternative Fuels processors, to make into Ethanol or Bio fuel alternatives, to run our oil-driven machinery.

Wake up and give it some SERIOUS thought, guys! As for me, I'm gonna do some further checking into becoming a Dealer or Distributor for these things.

John Snow would have been a better american name for it. We already have John Doe, and John Deer.

And to the Desu guy up above. Yea, this machine needs more desu.

no, you can use the blocks to create an igloo.

www.proto3000.com

because, um, it will freeze over and become a bigger danger than before? that's why you need to scoop snow, so it doesnt partially melt and freeze over, well, part of the reason anyway.

Because the water would turn to ice and create a bigger safety hazard. That would be silly.