Gardening is very therapeutic for many people, but there are nonetheless some yard-related tasks that can be a hassle. The Yardroid robot was designed to autonomously handle those jobs, utilizing artificial intelligence.
Being developed by the same people who previously brought us the Rammaxx reusable LED "fireworks," Yardroid is not unlike a miniature tank. It rolls along on tracks, with water, herbicide and pesticide chambers in the back, lawn-mowing blades on the underside, and a gimbal-stabilized pivoting turret in the front.
That turret is in turn equipped with a video camera, LED spotlight, leaf blower, plus three separate nozzles that shoot streams of water, herbicide or pesticide.
Utilizing its onboard computer vision and artificial intelligence systems, Yardroid is reportedly capable of autonomously mowing lawns, following a route that it plans. No perimeter wires are necessary (as is the case with some other lawn-mowing robots), and the height of the cutting blades can be adjusted via an accompanying smartphone app.
The robot is claimed to also be capable of spotting plants that are on its watering schedule, accordingly shooting streams of water at them. It is additionally said to identify weeds and pest insects on sight, responding by squirting them with herbicide or pesticide ... if the user is into that sort of thing. It can even "discourage" larger unwanted visitors such as raccoons, with squirts of water.
And yes, it blows leaves off of sidewalks. It can additionally patrol the property at night, sending smartphone alerts and emitting an audible warning if it spots an intruder. Yardroid also records video of the suspect, and will even spray them with water if they refuse to leave. Should they respond by simply stealing the robot, the owner can track its location via an onboard GPS unit.
When Yardroid starts getting low on water, it parks itself underneath the home's existing hose spigot, which is equipped with a special solar-powered valve. That valve proceeds to automatically refill the robot's 8-liter (2-US gal) water tank. Users refill the 1-liter (0.3 gal) herbicide and pesticide tanks manually. If they wish, they can also operate the bot itself manually, using the app.
Yardroid company CEO Dan Lubrich tells us that the product is already in fully functioning prototype form, and that the designers are currently in the process of collecting more data (such as photos of weeds and pests) to train its AI. He's planning to launch a crowdfunding campaign early next year, with a commercial rollout taking place around the middle of next year.
The retail price should be approximately US$2,500. Prospective buyers can register to receive updates via the source link below.
You can see the prototype in action, in the following video. And if you like the idea of a garden-tending robot, you might also want to check out the Tertill and GardenSpace units.
Source: Yardroid
