After testing several commercially available robotic snow blowers, it became clear they fail miserably in heavy snow. This one doesn’t. This bad boy is a tank on tracks.
Key specs & capabilities:
Weighs 350 lbs.
800 lb. payload capacity
2 × 1200-watt brushless motors
Heavy-duty plow with powered lift (up/down)
Tracked drivetrain for extreme traction
Modular design:
Snow plowing
Fall leaf pickup
Insect fogging attachment
Autonomy in progress — nearly complete
Designed for serviceability: No bolts need to be removed to access key electronic components for troubleshooting or upgrades
Built for real-world conditions where lightweight consumer robots simply don’t survive.
How fun is that!!! Did you fabricate the track carriage? Or start with something commercial? Keep us posted on all your precision ag ideas (have a mesquite problem I’m working out)…
@marblecreek I have a factory where we make all kinds of chassis/tracks and can custom design any. All intelligence and final solution is manufactured and produced in US.
i also work with farmers developing autonomous agricultural robots. See image..
Hello Asim, I’ve been fascinated by the idea of a self-driving, autonomous snow blower for quite a while now, and that’s why a year ago I got STL files from an American maker so I could start the project. 95% of the parts are printed, and the snow blower is now driving using RTK GPS. It’s a real beast. So far I’ve gotten the rover to drive, and I’m currently printing the parts for the blower. What I’m still missing are the ideas and the know-how for how the rover drives to its charging station and how it can avoid obstacles. After all, it must not recognize the thrown snow as an obstacle. If you want to see a finished one driving, search on YouTube for “Spiker Workshop”. That guy, however, drives it via a remote control. I want to stay in bed in the morning. Best regards, and good luck with your project.
Thank you. Your rover looks pretty awesome! Great job!
I looked into snow thrower and found it be very impractical in autonomous situation. Here is my take on it.
a) What I do is that I remove the snow few times to avoid snow being pilling up too high. As you can see in the Spiker video its not doing any justice to snow. Its basically riding on top of the snow. I use a commercial grade snow plow and cleans the snow down to the driveway level in first pass. The weight of the snow plow, and how I used an automatic suspension system which adjusts the blade automatically while moving and keep touching the ground is the key.
b) The way I have designed it is all about weight. My rover weighs 300lbs without the blade and with blade we are talking 425 lbs. With 2 x 1200 watt motors (that can be upgraded to 1.8kw), it has so much power that it can push 10 inches of show down to the ground.
c) The rover pushed the snow to the edges in small batches rather going straight. I pre calculate after how many feet of movement, it should start to push the snow to the side. So far this method has worked up to 12” of snow fall.
Charging Station
That’s not that difficult. The rover should know where it started from, all you need is either an infrared sensors system and a software routine to guide the rover back to its charging dock once it reaches it starts point. Many different ways to solve this.
Yes, all parts are made of plastic. The housing is made of PETG and the tracks are made of ABS. There are only a few parts made of aluminum sheet for mechanical strength, and the screws are made of stainless steel. The gearbox consists of a metal chain, and the gears are also made of ABS. It’s a very durable plastic. For the motors, I’m using two brushless 6374s. I’m not familiar with LiDAR systems yet, and I really like this idea with the charging station. A year ago, I didn’t even know what RTK was. I had to learn a lot, and now I’m going to take care of this LiDAR system. Thank you very much for the quick reply.
wow. I use ABS all the time for proto type builds, never thought of using ABS for a Realtime build. Not sure how long it will last. Chicago snow will destroy ABS in minutes
I don’t have any practical experience with ABS yet. If it becomes brittle in the cold, then I’ll switch to PETG CF. That stuff is indestructible. After all, it’s only 104 track links. Here in Saxony, winters aren’t as cold as they used to be, so maybe it will work. I’ll be happy to keep you updated on my progress.
ABS can technically handle temperatures from about -20°C to 80°C, but in my experience, once you’re dealing with extreme conditions like heavy snow, things change. The vibration and sheer force from the rover can cause the plastic to crack, and metal screws can eventually loosen or fall out.
That’s why I decided to go with an all-metal, heavy-duty design. It’s definitely more expensive, but it’s built to survive extreme conditions and last 20+ years.
Extreme cold also makes LiFePO₄ batteries behave unpredictably. To deal with that, I built a heating system directly into the enclosure to keep the batteries warm (uses an auto thermostat to kick in the heater automatically).
The electronics I’m using aren’t military-grade and aren’t meant for low temperatures either, so keeping everything warm has been key. So far, this setup has allowed the unit to keep running reliably even in extreme cold. Recently tested under -20..worked flawlessly.
The operating temperature range of LiFePO₄ (Lithium Iron Phosphate) batteries depends on whether you’re charging or discharging, and this distinction is very important.
Typical LiFePO₄ Operating Temperature Ranges
Discharging (using the battery)
-20°C to +60°C
Some cells can discharge down to -30°C, but with reduced performance.
Charging (very important)
0°C to +45°C (recommended)
Below 0°C charging can permanently damage the battery
Charging LiFePO₄ below freezing can cause lithium plating, which reduces capacity and can lead to internal failure.
What Happens in Cold Temperatures
At low temperatures:
Capacity drops significantly
Internal resistance increases
Voltage sag becomes more noticeable
BMS may shut down unexpectedly
Cells can behave “erratically” (as you described)
Approximate Capacity Loss
Temperature
Available Capacity
25°C
100%
0°C
~80%
-10°C
~60–70%
-20°C
~50% or less
Safe discharge: -20°C to +60°C
Safe charging: 0°C to +45°C
Ideal operating range: 10°C to 30°C
Below freezing: expect reduced capacity and unpredictable behavior
Discharging (using the battery)
Charging (very important)
Charging LiFePO₄ below freezing can cause lithium plating, which reduces capacity and can lead to internal failure.