Initial setup recommendations

[ken.w.gregory]

I’m new to Yarbo. I purchased the 4 in 1 bundle. (Core, mower, snow blower and leaf blower).

They are still boxed in a friends garage while I wait to take possession of my new house.. (Leaf blower hasn’t shipped yet though)

I’m looking for the recommended method of getting started.

I have the app installed on my phone and have my account created.

The app is asking me to choose my core. 2024 it is!

That would seem to indicate that I need to unbox the core first.

Next it asks me to choose my module.

Is there a “best practices” on which to set up first?

Is there an advantage to choosing one module over the others?

Once selected the app wants to connect so I can’t tell what it’s going to do after that.

I’ve watch a million (only a slight exaggeration) YouTube videos of unboxing and setup.

They are kind of season dependent. Lots of snow blower setups from the winter and now some summer mowing setups are coming out.

My question is about module setup order.

Should I start with the assist module and drive Yarbo around my yard with the controller and pull my yard cart around or pull my car like I’ve seen online?

I assume the app will next want me to setup the docking station and or the data center.

Can someone who has been through this please advise?

I’m guessing the following order:

1. Core
2. Charging station
3. Data center
4. Start mapping…

Also is it advantageous to create the map with the snowblower first even though it spring?

Or should I just start with the mower?

Maybe it doesn’t make any difference.

It’s unclear to me how the mapped areas “play” differently with the different modules.

If my driveway is grass, do I map it with the mower and the snow blower?

Or is it just one area handled differently based on the currently attached module?

Is it one map per module or one map period, with different accouterment based on attached module?

So many questions….

Thanks in advance for any advice you can offer.

[bryan.wheeler]

Setup the data center and core first and then mount the docking station and map. The data center is a critical element for communications and you’ll want it up and running, updated, and fully operational so that the core can be activated and then pull its updates while you work on the docking station. The app does guide you through most everything.

[Ken]

I’m with Bryan on that – get a solid setup going.

Put the SAM on first – it’s the law. Do “Follow Me.” No, no, don’t argue, you have to, it’s the law. And if you don’t laugh, check your pulse. (And, yes, the SAM’s bottom pins don’t lock, so don’t worry about it.)

You can put the snowblower on with the grass tracks and learn how to do mapping. Or the mower, your call. If you do the snowblower, you can keep the auger up using Settings so it doesn’t scrape anything.

Create some test items on your map. Focus on mapping multiple Areas, Pathways, and No-go Zones, as those are across modules. You can learn fancy stuff like Sidewalks (snowblower only) and Deadends (mower) when you’re ready. (Deadends are zero-turn Sidewalks – that means nothing now, but you’ll see.)

See how the rover navigates to/from the Docking Station and from Area to Area, learn what it needs to do that. Make mistakes. Try all kinds of stuff. Learn how to lay things out to suit the module you’re using and what you want done. Mowing is very different from snowblowing with Yarbo, and actual experience in Your Real World will dictate the strategies, workarounds, hacks, and really clever things you do with these modules.

IIRC you can run Work Plans with the snowblower without turning the auger on – I think it’s a Working Preference (the memory fades quickly, doesn’t it). The mower will always run the blades when it’s doing a Work Plan, but you can set the blade height high while you’re testing if you want. Let the rover loose to see what it does in your test environment. Put a barrel in an Area to see how Obstacle Avoidance (Vision) works, then put a No-go Zone around it to see how that works. And so on.

When you have enough experience, you can map for your snowblower or mower “for real”, and you can test out your Work Plans – even with no snow or nothing to mow. Be aware you’ll re-map that a few times anyway, and you’ll be tweaking when the snow flies and the grass comes in. And that’s OK. Eventually it gets dialed in.

[ken.w.gregory]

Awesome! Thanks for the advice!

I’m all with following the law… so I guess Yarbo gets to follow me first thing.

[Ken]

Using the SAM is easier than the other modules – it’s light and easy to install, and it doesn’t take much to use it right out of the gate. Doing a “Follow Me” will give you a WIN to help encourage you to DO MORE!

Have fun with your new little beastie – it is worth spending the time getting to know and learn how to use effectively for your home.

[ken.w.gregory]

Here is where I am at today:

Yarbo’s first mow was May 8, 2025. My map looked nothing like it does today.
Live and learn.

Areas:

1. Front West Lawn
2. Front East Lawn
3. East Driveway East Lawn
4. West Driveway East Lawn
5. Back West Lawn
6. Back East Lawn
7. North Lawn

There is still a West Driveway West Lawn to map and mow, but that area is currently a collection of trash and tree branches from I’d guess about a hundred years of no one cleaning out the fence row.

I’ll get it mapped in time…

The property is in central Ohio and is about 2.9 acres.

The property is mostly flat. Topo map shows maybe 5 feet of elevation gain.

There are woven field fences between these areas:
1-4, 1-5, 4-5, 5-7, 6-7
There is a fence to the East of 6 but I have not mapped that area due to some needed cleanup to the overgrown brush in that area before I’ll let Yarbo loose over there.

In time…

To get decent looking cuts I’ve made the following changes to settings:

1. Changed overlap to 8 inches. (increases mowing time significantly)
2. I’ve recently switched to 4 perimeters.
3. I mow perimeters first.
4. I mow at the fastest speed available.

A sample mowing time from today:
Mowed the North Lawn today. 13,100 square feet. Estimated mowing time was 4 h and 43 min.

I started the work plan at 10:50 and the battery was at 96%. The work plan was complete at 18:40. Total time start to finish was 7h 50m. Yarbo happily charged and went back to work as advertised.

All 7 areas mowed in 4 days. There was some downtime for maintenance a couple times in those 4 days. (Cutting height motor overcurrent, track grease, and a couple baths for the mower. Mowing overnight ends up with some buildup as the grass gets wet from dew)

I originally had my charging station too close to the house and Yarbo would lose GPS signal while charging. This caused lots of “map drift”. I have since moved the charging station further out in the yard and Yarbo maintains GPS while charging and “map drift” has not re-occurred.

My data center is in my attic. I know this isn’t the recommended installation but it seems to be working pretty good for me. YMMV.

Could it be affecting accuracy requiring me to up the overlap to 8 inches, I suppose it could. But it is currently seeing 21 Satellites.

I’m still adding no go zones as I come across areas where Yarbo gets confused or does a crappy job of getting all the grass.

Area 6, in the north part of the lawn there are 4 fruit trees (circular no go zones) and a rectangle no go zone that is a grape vine. Yarbo does a really bad job of the area between the grape vine and the fence between areas 6 and 7.

A couple questions:

1. Anyone know how to get the google map larger to cover my entire property?
2. Any suggestions for map changes?
3. Any suggestions for more efficiency?

[bryan.wheeler]

You should consider moving that DC. Unfortunately, that will require a remap. Your CNR (Carrier-to-Noise Ratio) values are low. The CNR reflects the reliability of satellite signal transmission — values below 36 are considered unreliable, while values above 40 are recommended for stable performance.

[ken.w.gregory]

I’m not afraid of remapping. I already have 10 previous maps (and I deleted the 11th.)

[ken.w.gregory]

Are you aware of a page similar to the Diagnosis Page Terminology for the RTK details page?

I’m trying to make sense of the data. I should do some research on how RTK works.

[bryan.wheeler]

That page is probably the most comprehensive I’ve seen.

RTK and NTRIP are standards, so there is plenty of public information available and out there.

Let me know what specific questions you have and I’ll do my best to answer or find it.

[Ryan]

this gem should be in the #DCwiki

[Ken]

Looks like they’ve done a few updates to that page. Nice.

They need a Diagnostics Page For Dumm…uhh…Everyday People for troubleshooting. Often I just want to ask what someone’s GPS was doing when their rover teabagged something, but that doesn’t mean much to 99% of the people out there. They just want their rover not to teabag anything. Rightly so.

[bryan.wheeler]

That page still needs work but it’s come a long way.