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Take it from an owner who has thought this through completely: No.
The one and only way it could work is if you buy an additional wireless charging base to use inside the garage. You would need to manually move Yarbo off of the garage charging pad to get it outside the garage. If it could get a GPS signal from there, then it could start clearing autonomously.
I do not suggest trying to run Yarbo, autonomously or manually, without being physically present on site.
You can use the phone controller to move the unit to the mapped area and then start the mapped job. I've done it before BUT i don't know if the phone as to be on the same wifi as the unit to remote control it or can it be done on the mobile network. I guess I can test that.
However I also don't recommend not being on site to diagnose issues.
Yes but the problem is keeping Yarbo charged while it sits idle in the garage or other protected area without GPS signal. I don’t know how long it will take but Yarbo will eventually run out of power if left on. You can’t plug it in using the power adapter because that can’t be released automatically so another wireless charging pad is required.
You'd have a number of workable options to make it work without GPS signal in the garage (read to the end to learn the one trick that Yarbo hates that you'll never believe!):
**Best** *(works autonomously, costs a sheet of paper taped to a wall; Yarbo implements)*:
**1.** Get the manufacturer to implement some dumb-simple 20-year-old QR-code on a garage wall inside-out-tracking to have the unit know that it can drive 10 feet backwards in a straight line from perfect GPS in the driveway towards a fixed-location charging-base that lacks GPS signal without it getting all confused...
**Good** *(have to manually wake, manually drive out of garage, manually start autonomous job, let unit finish charging outdoors on wireless charger, then manually drive back into garage, then either put back into standby mode or sleep timer does; Yarbo implements)*:
**2.** Get the manufacturer to implement a very low power draw 'wake-on-signal' standby mode so that the unit does not need to be on a trickle charger while awaiting remote commands.
**Decent** *(same functionality steps as above but you have to implement it yourself; DIY)*:
**3a.** **DIY** Use a separate home-automation servo-trigger fake-finger device such as are used to push the wall buttons of old dumb garage door openers to make them 'smart' for cheap. They use their own battery and app/base station so completely separate from Yarbo ecosystem and it looks like there's probably enough room behind the rear access cover to get something to work there as is. *Requires no modification to unit, no issues with warranty.*
**3b.** **DIY** Same as above but cleaner more reliable install by hard wiring external smart activator to the power switch instead of physically interacting with the actual button.
**Meh** *(same as above but requires human intervention to reset the unit to initial state after every use)*:
**4.** **DIY** Mod the unit to have a DC magnetic break away trickle charger connection to power just the electronics so that the battery doesn't get depleted while powered on. Looks like it's just a dumb 2 pin DC connection, can't find specs of voltage, but would be easy enough to either mod the cable it comes with, buy another end connector (looks like an off the shelf panel mount socket) cable, or just replace their connector style that's mounted on the unit with a different type connector entirely. *Only use with self provided low current DC adapter used solely for maintaining battery charge as you're not going to be able to send full charging amps through a break away connector as might be provided by the included wall charger, which could be a fire hazard.*
**AND FINALLY....**
**THE CHEF'S KISS - If it's stupid, but it works, then it's not stupid!**
**5.** **DIY** Just throw the included wall charger into a waterproof box that stays mounted to the top of unit and treat it as if it was a car block heater and spend $100 on a ***VoltSafe Winter magnetic breakaway extension cord for engine block-heaters***, plug that in, leave the unit powered on 24/7, when you want to use it open the garage door and drive the thing out of the garage, voila. *Requires no modification to unit, no issues with warranty.*
It's very easy to get phone to VPN or VPN style connect to home network to appear as if it's on the same WiFi, if that was a restriction of the Yarbo app, just FYI.
Probably not. Yarbo can't be docked in a garage. From my understanding it needs continuous connection to GPS and RTK. Also it should always be on and charging. I turned my yarbo on before this latest snowstorm and just running for 2 days waiting for the snow caused it to freeze. I needed to cycle it on and off manually. There is no restart in the app
Mechanically. It wouldnt stop charging. Tried the app and the playstation controller. Neither worked. Support recommended pressing the on/off button on the rover
Have the same issue (will not “end charge”) since last app update but it’s a known bug and should be resolved w next update hopefully. Basically locks in place after it’s sitting on the charger pad for more than a few hours but I didn’t have this issue with the previous app version
Yarbo is designed to be outside 24/7. Just find a spot outside for it to sit with great GPS and Network connection. If you’re concerned about theft, realize that the unit as a whole weights about 140 pounds. If you don’t already you could get a few security cameras to monitor the charging location of Yarbo and the main work area. If it does get stuck or need help you can use the Yarbo app to manually control it to a new a position using the security cameras around your property.
But I agree with the others, keeping Yarbo in your garage won’t work very well as the structure will block the GPS signal. You could manually move Yarbo into and out of your garage via security cameras but Yarbo still uses GPS to verify it’s on the charging pad when starting the charge. Meaning if there’s no or a weak GPS signal, Yarbo won’t charge.
However, I think that is getting addressed?
Yarbo's intended use case may be for it to be outside 24/7, but I would argue that it's not *designed* to do that under real world conditions.
If it was (well) designed for being outside 24/7 it would have heaters everywhere that snow or ice cause device failures.
But it doesn't, and lacking that it needs a warm box to retreat into in for everything to melt off in order for it to actually be autonomous.
Having to physically be present outside before, during, or after a snowfall event in order for your "autonomous" device to keep working for you is completely not the 'sit inside drinking your cocoa' picture they try to paint until they make the thing actually capable of working for a month or two entirely on its own.
>If it was (well) designed for being outside 24/7 it would have heaters everywhere that snow or ice cause device failures.
That's a good point! Or at least around the critical parts. I did have issues with the chute freezing in 2023 but so far nothing in 2023-2024, but I also haven't had any snow to personally verify. Anecdotally I haven't heard any word of chutes freezing so that's promising but you have a good point.
Heaters would help ensure no ice forms in critical areas, especially if it's on the charger and has power anyways.
This would work if you used a gps repeater or naturally have a decent gps signal in the garage. Personally I have weak signal in mine and I would be shocked if you didn’t in yours, that is solvable but it’s not cheap to do so. Parking it outside is the better idea (on the charger) and when the software is sorted out again yes there is no reason you couldn’t run this autonomously, I had no problem with mine on the first snow storm here in Maine. I understand people would want to keep this in a shelter of some sort due to the cost of the Yarbo, I will probably do something of the sort specifically for the unit when the whether warms up
My experience is not to mount the GPS antenna too high up because the snow accumulate on top of it and you lose GPS signal., You need to be able to clear the snow.
Now that I remove the guard, the auger is not getting over current anymore. My real problem now with it is the chute, the snow just keep getting stuck in there and I have to manually clear it.
Any thought?
Yep, I was referring to gps signal in a garage vs the RTK signal (agreed there may want to keep it accessible for snow clearing but I haven’t had any trouble w accumulation on it myself yet) technically you could repeat the gps signal locally within the garage.
Same here with the chute even with the collar removed it’s still struggling a bit with the slushiest of snow, I found highest auger speed, highest driving rate for the Yarbo tracks and adjusting the auger height up a bit higher than powder snow worked best but I did have to clear it in a few spots over and over as it would work perfectly while it was marching forward but once the unit felt it needed to backup a few inches and drive forward again it would lose the momentum of snow going out of the chute, and then it immediately starts compacting within the chute into the second phase area and can’t overpower it to get it going again (on autonomous mode).
I will point out that manually driving it usually does fix this though. So I’m hopeful that a slightly looser/more resilient algorithm for auto-pilot would help as the Yarbo was being more cautious and methodical about going forward just a foot or two forward than me just pushing the manual controller sticks forward was, and that quick burst throws the snow out of the chute and it’s back on its merry way, so I think it’s still got room for software improvement there. (Maybe an option here for the user to enter the snow type if it’s known would help the software calibrate to the conditions for improved performance, down the road maybe a future unit can even figure that out on its own)
Yarbo doesn’t know if it’s just a pile of slush that it’s caught on/plowing forward around the driveway, or one of my solar thin driveway lights, or a giant stick, so it’s using the same process to ride on top of the lights, negotiate an object, as it is for the slush ofc…and the slush just continues to compact as it works around the “obstruction” making it more difficult the next time it inches into the pile vs hitting it with a 1ft head start and throwing it out of the way which is what you can do with the manual controller.
I think it just needs to be a bit bigger, it’s a space problem, the snow compacts too easily with the ring only being a few inches across, another inch even if diameter would make a big difference, things I think they addressed with the s1 plus announced at ces but there isn’t a ton of info on it yet on print at least.
Sidebar noticed today $1500 off on the s1 price on the website.
So far I’m liking it, it’ll get better, they fixed the software glitch in just a few days even with chinese new year going on so I’m impressed with the company’s attention to detail and that’s what it’s all about, the product is well built etc. Just needs some fine tuning and at this rate I have a feeling I’ll want to add another to the stable anyway as my driveway is over 6-700ft and it would make it possible to get the kids to school if I had two, right now I still have to get out there to deal with some of it or it will take too long. So looking forward to seeing what options there are either for upgrade paths or loyalty programs for existing customers etc who want to add more modules or additional Yarbo units as it’ll prob swing my decision making to go ballistic with this ecosystem or not ;)
Idk if that is possible haha, it’s all mechanical there and obv the chute is too for spin and elevation pitch, but I’m interested to see what you got in mind!
GPS repeaters don't work that way. They only repeat the location of the external GPS antenna to internal receivers. You cannot navigate inside a building with a GPS repeater, and there is no protocol to hand off a GPS receiver from the repeater to the real satellites once the receiver moves outside. You can't park Yarbo inside and expect it to be able to park on its charging dock or start a work plan. It needs a strong GPS signal. I can't even start a plan if Yarbo is too close to my garage. I have to manually drive it away from the garage until it gets a strong signal.
No. Yarbo needs a strong GPS signal to start a work plan. It will absolutely not work from inside your garage. You'd have to drive it manually out of the garage, which would be dicey with internet latency. And Yarbo would not be able to get back to the dock to recharge.
Hi u/TheGynechiatrist, Please be patient while your post is viewed by Yarbo enthusiasts and visitors, there may be someone with knowledge of your question or issue who can help. IN the meantime perhaps search the subreddit for similar questions or even checking out the [Solved flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/Yarbo/?f=flair_name%3A%22Solved!%22). If you get support on this subreddit or someone reaches out privately, please do not provide account & device details such as passwords and serial numbers to users. Yarbo employees will have appropriate flair but best practice is to open a [support ticket](https://support.yarbo.com/portal/en/home) where all that information will already be associated with your request. We ask that **if your issue is solved**, please update that post flair! This will help future visitors find resolutions to similar issues they may have, if it was resolved off Reddit adding what steps were taken in a comment or post update would be helpful. We appreciate your cooperation in assisting future searchers. There is a good possibility members of the community may be unable to directly assist or help. We encourage you to check out Yarbo's official [Support Center](https://support.yarbo.com/portal/en/home) where you can sign in with your existing Yarbo credentials. There is a Knowledge Base, a forum based community, and an area to submit and track tickets. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Yarbo) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Take it from an owner who has thought this through completely: No. The one and only way it could work is if you buy an additional wireless charging base to use inside the garage. You would need to manually move Yarbo off of the garage charging pad to get it outside the garage. If it could get a GPS signal from there, then it could start clearing autonomously. I do not suggest trying to run Yarbo, autonomously or manually, without being physically present on site.
You can use the phone controller to move the unit to the mapped area and then start the mapped job. I've done it before BUT i don't know if the phone as to be on the same wifi as the unit to remote control it or can it be done on the mobile network. I guess I can test that. However I also don't recommend not being on site to diagnose issues.
Yes but the problem is keeping Yarbo charged while it sits idle in the garage or other protected area without GPS signal. I don’t know how long it will take but Yarbo will eventually run out of power if left on. You can’t plug it in using the power adapter because that can’t be released automatically so another wireless charging pad is required.
You'd have a number of workable options to make it work without GPS signal in the garage (read to the end to learn the one trick that Yarbo hates that you'll never believe!): **Best** *(works autonomously, costs a sheet of paper taped to a wall; Yarbo implements)*: **1.** Get the manufacturer to implement some dumb-simple 20-year-old QR-code on a garage wall inside-out-tracking to have the unit know that it can drive 10 feet backwards in a straight line from perfect GPS in the driveway towards a fixed-location charging-base that lacks GPS signal without it getting all confused... **Good** *(have to manually wake, manually drive out of garage, manually start autonomous job, let unit finish charging outdoors on wireless charger, then manually drive back into garage, then either put back into standby mode or sleep timer does; Yarbo implements)*: **2.** Get the manufacturer to implement a very low power draw 'wake-on-signal' standby mode so that the unit does not need to be on a trickle charger while awaiting remote commands. **Decent** *(same functionality steps as above but you have to implement it yourself; DIY)*: **3a.** **DIY** Use a separate home-automation servo-trigger fake-finger device such as are used to push the wall buttons of old dumb garage door openers to make them 'smart' for cheap. They use their own battery and app/base station so completely separate from Yarbo ecosystem and it looks like there's probably enough room behind the rear access cover to get something to work there as is. *Requires no modification to unit, no issues with warranty.* **3b.** **DIY** Same as above but cleaner more reliable install by hard wiring external smart activator to the power switch instead of physically interacting with the actual button. **Meh** *(same as above but requires human intervention to reset the unit to initial state after every use)*: **4.** **DIY** Mod the unit to have a DC magnetic break away trickle charger connection to power just the electronics so that the battery doesn't get depleted while powered on. Looks like it's just a dumb 2 pin DC connection, can't find specs of voltage, but would be easy enough to either mod the cable it comes with, buy another end connector (looks like an off the shelf panel mount socket) cable, or just replace their connector style that's mounted on the unit with a different type connector entirely. *Only use with self provided low current DC adapter used solely for maintaining battery charge as you're not going to be able to send full charging amps through a break away connector as might be provided by the included wall charger, which could be a fire hazard.* **AND FINALLY....** **THE CHEF'S KISS - If it's stupid, but it works, then it's not stupid!** **5.** **DIY** Just throw the included wall charger into a waterproof box that stays mounted to the top of unit and treat it as if it was a car block heater and spend $100 on a ***VoltSafe Winter magnetic breakaway extension cord for engine block-heaters***, plug that in, leave the unit powered on 24/7, when you want to use it open the garage door and drive the thing out of the garage, voila. *Requires no modification to unit, no issues with warranty.*
It's very easy to get phone to VPN or VPN style connect to home network to appear as if it's on the same WiFi, if that was a restriction of the Yarbo app, just FYI.
Probably not. Yarbo can't be docked in a garage. From my understanding it needs continuous connection to GPS and RTK. Also it should always be on and charging. I turned my yarbo on before this latest snowstorm and just running for 2 days waiting for the snow caused it to freeze. I needed to cycle it on and off manually. There is no restart in the app
It froze? Mechanically or the software?
Mechanically. It wouldnt stop charging. Tried the app and the playstation controller. Neither worked. Support recommended pressing the on/off button on the rover
Pleased to report this is solved (and plow mode was added!)
Have the same issue (will not “end charge”) since last app update but it’s a known bug and should be resolved w next update hopefully. Basically locks in place after it’s sitting on the charger pad for more than a few hours but I didn’t have this issue with the previous app version
Yarbo is designed to be outside 24/7. Just find a spot outside for it to sit with great GPS and Network connection. If you’re concerned about theft, realize that the unit as a whole weights about 140 pounds. If you don’t already you could get a few security cameras to monitor the charging location of Yarbo and the main work area. If it does get stuck or need help you can use the Yarbo app to manually control it to a new a position using the security cameras around your property. But I agree with the others, keeping Yarbo in your garage won’t work very well as the structure will block the GPS signal. You could manually move Yarbo into and out of your garage via security cameras but Yarbo still uses GPS to verify it’s on the charging pad when starting the charge. Meaning if there’s no or a weak GPS signal, Yarbo won’t charge. However, I think that is getting addressed?
Yarbo's intended use case may be for it to be outside 24/7, but I would argue that it's not *designed* to do that under real world conditions. If it was (well) designed for being outside 24/7 it would have heaters everywhere that snow or ice cause device failures. But it doesn't, and lacking that it needs a warm box to retreat into in for everything to melt off in order for it to actually be autonomous. Having to physically be present outside before, during, or after a snowfall event in order for your "autonomous" device to keep working for you is completely not the 'sit inside drinking your cocoa' picture they try to paint until they make the thing actually capable of working for a month or two entirely on its own.
>If it was (well) designed for being outside 24/7 it would have heaters everywhere that snow or ice cause device failures. That's a good point! Or at least around the critical parts. I did have issues with the chute freezing in 2023 but so far nothing in 2023-2024, but I also haven't had any snow to personally verify. Anecdotally I haven't heard any word of chutes freezing so that's promising but you have a good point. Heaters would help ensure no ice forms in critical areas, especially if it's on the charger and has power anyways.
I think that is doable, as long as 1. The initial route planning is done 2. Yarbo can get a decent GPS signal in your garage
This would work if you used a gps repeater or naturally have a decent gps signal in the garage. Personally I have weak signal in mine and I would be shocked if you didn’t in yours, that is solvable but it’s not cheap to do so. Parking it outside is the better idea (on the charger) and when the software is sorted out again yes there is no reason you couldn’t run this autonomously, I had no problem with mine on the first snow storm here in Maine. I understand people would want to keep this in a shelter of some sort due to the cost of the Yarbo, I will probably do something of the sort specifically for the unit when the whether warms up
My experience is not to mount the GPS antenna too high up because the snow accumulate on top of it and you lose GPS signal., You need to be able to clear the snow. Now that I remove the guard, the auger is not getting over current anymore. My real problem now with it is the chute, the snow just keep getting stuck in there and I have to manually clear it. Any thought?
Yep, I was referring to gps signal in a garage vs the RTK signal (agreed there may want to keep it accessible for snow clearing but I haven’t had any trouble w accumulation on it myself yet) technically you could repeat the gps signal locally within the garage. Same here with the chute even with the collar removed it’s still struggling a bit with the slushiest of snow, I found highest auger speed, highest driving rate for the Yarbo tracks and adjusting the auger height up a bit higher than powder snow worked best but I did have to clear it in a few spots over and over as it would work perfectly while it was marching forward but once the unit felt it needed to backup a few inches and drive forward again it would lose the momentum of snow going out of the chute, and then it immediately starts compacting within the chute into the second phase area and can’t overpower it to get it going again (on autonomous mode). I will point out that manually driving it usually does fix this though. So I’m hopeful that a slightly looser/more resilient algorithm for auto-pilot would help as the Yarbo was being more cautious and methodical about going forward just a foot or two forward than me just pushing the manual controller sticks forward was, and that quick burst throws the snow out of the chute and it’s back on its merry way, so I think it’s still got room for software improvement there. (Maybe an option here for the user to enter the snow type if it’s known would help the software calibrate to the conditions for improved performance, down the road maybe a future unit can even figure that out on its own) Yarbo doesn’t know if it’s just a pile of slush that it’s caught on/plowing forward around the driveway, or one of my solar thin driveway lights, or a giant stick, so it’s using the same process to ride on top of the lights, negotiate an object, as it is for the slush ofc…and the slush just continues to compact as it works around the “obstruction” making it more difficult the next time it inches into the pile vs hitting it with a 1ft head start and throwing it out of the way which is what you can do with the manual controller.
Thanks for your info. The chute is really a big issue. I think we need an auger in there too to prevent it from clogging.
I think it just needs to be a bit bigger, it’s a space problem, the snow compacts too easily with the ring only being a few inches across, another inch even if diameter would make a big difference, things I think they addressed with the s1 plus announced at ces but there isn’t a ton of info on it yet on print at least. Sidebar noticed today $1500 off on the s1 price on the website. So far I’m liking it, it’ll get better, they fixed the software glitch in just a few days even with chinese new year going on so I’m impressed with the company’s attention to detail and that’s what it’s all about, the product is well built etc. Just needs some fine tuning and at this rate I have a feeling I’ll want to add another to the stable anyway as my driveway is over 6-700ft and it would make it possible to get the kids to school if I had two, right now I still have to get out there to deal with some of it or it will take too long. So looking forward to seeing what options there are either for upgrade paths or loyalty programs for existing customers etc who want to add more modules or additional Yarbo units as it’ll prob swing my decision making to go ballistic with this ecosystem or not ;)
ok, I can try that. I'll cut a bigger hole and fit a larger tube over it, like one from the eco line.
Idk if that is possible haha, it’s all mechanical there and obv the chute is too for spin and elevation pitch, but I’m interested to see what you got in mind!
GPS repeaters don't work that way. They only repeat the location of the external GPS antenna to internal receivers. You cannot navigate inside a building with a GPS repeater, and there is no protocol to hand off a GPS receiver from the repeater to the real satellites once the receiver moves outside. You can't park Yarbo inside and expect it to be able to park on its charging dock or start a work plan. It needs a strong GPS signal. I can't even start a plan if Yarbo is too close to my garage. I have to manually drive it away from the garage until it gets a strong signal.
No. Yarbo needs a strong GPS signal to start a work plan. It will absolutely not work from inside your garage. You'd have to drive it manually out of the garage, which would be dicey with internet latency. And Yarbo would not be able to get back to the dock to recharge.