I would like to share a recurring issue with the Yarbo automatic machine and propose a software improvement that could address it effectively.
On uneven terrain, especially in rural areas, Yarbo frequently gets stuck at specific spots when ice forms under the snow or when frozen tire tracks create hard obstacles. In these situations, the machine becomes trapped in the same location, and I have to manually free it each time.
This problem is made worse because:
Ice is often hidden beneath the snow,
The problematic spots may be temporary (before repair or leveling),
The machine repeatedly gets stuck at the same locations.
Proposed Feature
Would it be possible to add an option that allows, when a blockage is detected or after a restart:
Manually marking a temporary or permanent “avoid zone”,
Defining an adjustable perimeter (size/shape) around that area,
Displaying this zone in a distinct color on the map,
Saving the zone in memory until it is manually removed or modified,
Allowing easy removal or editing once the area has been fixed or is passable again.
Extended to All Accessories
This feature should be available not only for snow clearing but for all Yarbo accessories (e.g., mower, blower, and others).
Each tool can encounter obstacles or terrain irregularities where the robot should avoid specific spots for reliable operation and safety.
Real-World Context
Not all users have perfectly flat terrain like in urban settings. In many regions, snow partially melts and refreezes under new snowfall. This cycle creates hard, impassable areas for the robot, even when the rest of the surface is manageable.
A flexible and intelligent “avoid zone” system would greatly improve:
Actual machine autonomy,
User experience,
Suitability of Yarbo for complex, rural, or uneven environments.
Thank you in advance for considering this feature.
You can edit no-go zones now. Even drawn ones but I clicked it on one and it has all the options for a template one, didn’t want to lose or mess with it so I exited without saving
Thanks for sharing this detailed suggestion.
Would this be achievable by using a No-Go Zone? It seems like a temporary or adjustable No-Go Zone could address many of the scenarios you described.
It’s a no-go zone, yes, it’s the same thing, but with the key difference that it’s a point, and you shouldn’t define a zone with the robot! You might have mud, ice, or heavy snow where the robot gets stuck, but you won’t be able to create a no-go zone with the robot because it’s impassable! So when it gets stuck, it’s much easier to just mark the robot’s location point and define a radius around that no-go zone point, then go and free the robot!
As I’ve often explained, those who use the robot on perfectly flat surfaces don’t have this kind of problem because the terrain can change at any time, and it can be temporary.
Anyway, that’s why I’m asking!
I don’t know how else to explain it so you understand that you can’t always define a no-go zone by drawing it with the robot!
Have a good day everyone!
PS: If you decide to do this seriously, I personally would use it quite often! And leave the option to activate it or not, because we can go and fix the problem, but in case of water, for example, it can come on when the snow melts or when it gets too wet!
You can use templates for drawing NGZ’s and make them any size you want. No need to use the core to draw it. You can park the core near where you want it to start and you have a reference point on the map to help you place it.
The only thing missing is the ability to add the NGZ while a plan is active. It would be nice to add an NGZ around the exact area it is stuck in real time. I realize how this could be problematic. The plan would have to be recalculated, etc.
Yeah right now you’d have to stop the plan and note the percentage and then restart the plan around that percentage after adding the NGZ. Problem with that is it changes the path planning. The cloud point for avoidance which is what should be done here, doesn’t change the path planning, but it does sit and spin filling in the lines it can’t get to which can waste time, energy, and potentially dig itself in or get stuck while it’s running out the plan.
As Bryan mentioned earlier, you can use the no-go zone template to achieve this behavior. That said, we understand the scenario you described. Do you have any remaining concerns about using the template approach, or are there specific situations or factors that you feel aren’t fully addressed by the current solution?
Yes, absolutely! We can’t do it while it’s happening, so we lose the precision of the location! Furthermore, we can’t do it when there’s already work in progress, so if we make two passes, it will go straight back into the same area, or we have to cancel everything and start over Admittedly, it’s much simpler to create a temporary or permanent no-pass point, and it’s much easier to do than, as you suggest, going into the map editor, zooming in, and positioning ourselves precisely over the exact area! I’m glad to have this option on my flying drone because it would be impossible for me to return to the same spot to take more photos and compare the evolution of a specific area! We have a system that works to the centimeter, and here you’re talking about creating approximate zones when the Yarbo is already precisely over the area to avoid, and it’s just an option to add to the screen! I don’t understand you, but I must be the only one having ice problems on my property Have a good day everyone, and thank you for your comments, because that’s how we build and improve our robot through software options
Thanks for the detailed explanation — I understand your point now. I’ll share this feedback with our product team so they can consider the feasibility of this approach. We really appreciate you taking the time to explain the use case so clearly.
I think there is already rudimentary logic like this? I’ve been running some experiments trying to scrape up snow pack from the driveway, and if Yarbo really can’t push through it ends up skipping the rest of the row and moving on. Or is this an accidental side effect of PPVS? Although it was in the middle of the driveway so it should have had perfect GPS…
Edit: I would rather it show the skipped portions the same as the little point clouds it generates for other obstacles though
I think this is an accidental side effect like we see with the mower when it does obstacle avoidance or turns to wide and then passes the point of no return for it to backup and instead tracks to the end of the path line leaving nice strips of uncut grass.
Admittedly, it’s much simpler to create a temporary or permanent no-pass point, and it’s much easier to do than, as you suggest, going into the map editor, zooming in, and positioning ourselves precisely over the exact area! I’m glad to have this option on my flying drone because it would be impossible for me to return to the same spot to take more photos and compare the evolution of a specific area! We have a system that works to the centimeter, and here you’re talking about creating approximate zones when the Yarbo is already precisely over the area to avoid, and it’s just an option to add to the screen! I don’t understand you, but I must be the only one having ice problems on my property