Autonomous snow removal robot skepticism disappears when the blizzard arrives. You just spent $5,000 on what your family calls a ridiculous toy. A yellow tractor that mows lawns and blows snow. Everyone thinks you’ve lost it. Then New Jersey gets buried. You’re sitting inside with coffee. Through the window, the little yellow tank is clearing 6,000 square feet of driveway while you stay warm. It runs for 90 minutes, returns to charge itself, goes back out. The internet sees your video and loses its mind.
Abel’s first question as a reviewer: how does first generation tech handle reality? Does it only work on perfectly paved straight driveways or can it manage gravel, curves, actual conditions? The videos show it performing under storm pressure, but what happens when parts break? Canadian pricing is $6,899 delivered on Amazon in a week, $9,849 for the four season package. Apple released next generation AirTag at the same $39 price with better range and accuracy, but didn’t call it AirTag 2. That gap signals more upgrades coming. Arizona students built a full size ENIAC replica with 1,600 hot glue sticks to show autistic kids what a 30 ton 1946 computer actually looked like.
The toy everyone mocked just cleared your driveway during a blizzard. First generation that works under pressure creates the market everyone else will chase.
Topics: autonomous snow removal robot, Yarbo snowplow, yard robots, first generation tech, smart home winter
GUEST: Kris Abel | @realkrisabel, realkrisabel.com
Originally aired on2026-01-27
