Here's A Robot That Will Mow Your Lawn, Rake Your Leaves, And Shovel Your Snow

This article is more than 2 years old.

Do you enjoy doing yard work? If so, this article is not for you. However, if mowing the grass, raking the leaves and especially shoveling snow aren't leisure-time activities you look forward to, relief is on the horizon. A robot named Kobi will do all of these things for you because yard work is so last year.

Kobi is an autonomous electric-powered robot that comes with attachments for grass cutting, leaf blowing and snow shoveling. The grass module cuts to a depth of less than an inch, mulches the clippings and returns them to the lawn. The leaf module mulches the leaves and piles them wherever you'd like. The snow module will dump the snow where you want it and can blow snow up to 40 feet depending on weather conditions.

The robot is equipped with what the manufacturer calls a high-end GPS  and several positioning sensors that feed it information about where it is, obstacles in its path and the height of the ground under the unit. Although it has to be trained before it can take care of your yard work, the training process sounds simple and straightforward. You walk it around the perimeter of your yard so it can learn the boundaries of your property, guide it around permanent obstacles like trees, and show it where to dump leaves and grass. That's all it needs to do the job.

Kobi has bluetooth, WiFi and mobile data connectivity. You communicate with it through a mobile phone app that allows you to set times when it can and can't work. You can also stop it on command and drive it using the app if you don't want Kobi to carry out its tasks by itself.

The robot is powered by a high-end lithium-ion battery and it will attach itself to a recharging station when its charge gets low. The system conserves energy by doing its tasks frequently when it takes less power to get the job done because the volume of grass, leaves or snow to be cleared is low. This approach is especially elegant when it comes to snow removal. Because Kobi receives weather reports, it gets to work when the snow starts and continually clears your driveway while it's snowing rather than waiting until a large amount of snow has accumulated.

Under the right circumstances the snow removal module can do more than relieve you of a tedious and backbreaking chore. A study carried out by the Nationwide Children's Hospital in 2011 found that there was an average of 11,500 emergency department visits resulting from snow shoveling every year in the United States from 1990 to 2006. Over that 17 year period snow shoveling was responsible for 1,647 cardiac-related deaths, almost 100 per year. If Kobi can prevent some of those injuries and deaths it could be a valuable thing to have in your garage.

You might be concerned that Kobi might not stay in your garage for long because it's useful, it's cool, and it will be running around your property when you're not there to watch it. Somebody might take it. Kobi is prepared if they try. The robot is equipped with an anti-theft system that will sound an alarm and send you a notification through your cell phone if someone tries to take it off your property. It also has a pin code and will disable itself if stolen.

All of this sounds pretty good but, as always, there's a catch. At $3,999, Kobi is expensive. It also won't be available for purchase until sometime next year. However, if you have the money, hate the yard work, and the robot performs as advertised, this fall and winter may be the last time you rake the leaves and shovel the snow.

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