Cyber Wonder from Japan: The Robot Snowplow

Japan loves robots and this latest one is inspired by Mother nature. Although just a prototype at the moment, Yuki-taro, an adorable self-guided, GPS and camera-equipped robot snowplow, may well be the new cat’s meow.

For those of you about to exclaim, “snow in Japan”, close your mouths and wait a second. Yes, indeed, there is a lot of snow in northern Japan, enough to cripple transportation and isolate those living in mountain villages.

Yuki-taro was developed over the course of the last seven years by a team of researchers from five local organizations in Niigata, where it snows heavily. The snow bot is expected to sell for under 1 million yen (about $9,000) in about five years. Snowy municipalities would absorb the cost.

Winters are particularly harsh in northern Japan and snow is a terrible burden for the elderly who are faced with the task of shoveling the snow in order to clear it from driveways and street entrances.

Yuki means snow in Japanese and taro is a common boy’s name. If it reaches America’s shores, advertisers would have to conjure another moniker that would dazzle consumers. Maybe something mundane like Billy the Snowbot or Zoey Snowy Blowy might work?

It is amazing and quite simple the way this snow bot works. Yuki ingests the snow in the front, transforms it into bricks, and then actually “excretes” the bricks out the back. The bricks are environmentally sustainable, as they can be reused as cooling devices in the warmer months to come.

As simple as the snowbot is, it is also high tech. It contains a GPS positioning sensor, twin video cameras embedded in its eyes and a snow block apparatus that makes igloos for the kids! Most important, the snowbot deals with the real problem of snow removal; namely, where to put it.

In 2006, Yuki-taro received a Good Design Award in the small-to-medium sized enterprise category. Yuki measures 160 x 95 x 75 cm (63 x 37 x 30 in.) and weighs 400 kg (880 lbs).

Snow anyone?

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