Slope mode annoyance

Had my driveway set to slope mode since it better allows for direction control of the snow blower (my drive is longer than wide, so it’s more effective to blow down vs across). I noticed that the blower only blows “going down” the slope which is fine, however the path it takes back up to the top of the slope, it still goes into the snow and plows it up the slope. Not sure why yarbo wouldnt go up the path it just blowed, vs pushing snow up the driveway where it then misses

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I also did not get point of plowing snow uphill. I started to think that maybe message on the setting direction setup screen was wrong and you should mark slope opposite way? It will make more sense to move snow down if plow behaviour is expected. I have not noticed also lines in the work plan at the end to move away plowed snow at the end of the plan.
Maybe somebody from Yarbo team can comment and provide more details about idea behind SlopModeBeta feature?

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I guess I could reverse the slope drawing, but it would still bring up the question of why would it plow snow when the blower is attached going up or down the slope. It’s meant to blower snow not plow it.

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It is supposed to follow the blown path back up. This sounds like a bug.

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I still don’t get why it wouldn’t just reverse after raising?

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It’s front heavy, works better going uphill facing forward instead of reversing.

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Hmmm…well especially on the first pass down it can’t 0turn, so it must be able to reverse…if it’s really that steep that it tips forward… otherwise getting all the pressure into the front of the track with the studs should get it a lot of traction assuming it’s not trying to float which I don’t think it can do with the current autonomous programming

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Based on the current slope algorithm, the snow blower is designed to clear snow from the high end to the low end. It will turn at the lower end, return directly, and then make slight adjustments at the higher end before starting the next row.

If you notice Yarbo behaving abnormally, we recommend submitting a support ticket so our team can investigate further. We truly appreciate your feedback!

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I noticed this too when i tried this mode.

When it starts a path down the slope, it curves into it from the side at the start, so when it comes back up in a straight line, it runs into the part it didn’t clean yet due to the curve/turn it had on the way down.

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To add here, it would be a nice feature to use the “slope mode” pathing direction as a way to define a blowing path. I use slope mode because I’d rather yarbo blow the “long way” of my driveway vs many back and forth passes.

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But say we want to do the snow plow bank at the end of a drive or deeper snow that’s above the tracks, it can’t 0turn through that…the only option is to reverse or get stuck😅

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This wasn’t even in slope mode, just circular trying to do the border pass…if it would reverse back a few feet and then turn into it and do something like a slow version of smart turn to open up the corner first it wouldn’t have as much of an issue.

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On the return pass maybe the auger can still run on low speed, deflector down and put the snow it does collect onto the next pass?

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@rcguymike Thanks for providing the feedback and the videos — they really help us better understand your situation. Slope mode optimization is something we’re also looking into for future improvements. I’ll share your suggestions with our product team.

Thanks again for taking the time to share your experience!

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Just wanted to add to the discussion. My driveway slopes from the house toward the road. I switched to the slope pattern this morning because Yarbo was struggling with the parallel pattern trying to climb up the driveway in about 2-3 inches of fairly wet snow.

I also noticed during the uphill portion of the slope pattern, Yarbo curves inward and pushes snow uphill. The side effect is this leaves a berm of snow at the crest of the hill, which needed some manual clean up afterward.

It would be great if Yarbo avoided pushing uncleared snow uphill until it reaches the top and turns around for the next downhill pass. If that’s not possible, would it be possible to have an automated perpendicular clean up pass at the crest of the hill as part of the slope pattern?

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Here’s some video of the puzzling behavior. Even drives an “S” shape to “avoid an imaginary obstacle” but then turns around, turns off the auger and heads straight back where it started pushing snow the “wrong direction” :melting_face:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/D7E5RsMRXU3YPToj6

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Thanks for sharing your experience and suggestion. I’ve gathered the cases shared here and passed them along to our product team for further optimization.

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I’m in the middle of trying to clean up a foot of snow from 2 weeks ago (yarbo was disabled awaiting replacement core) and receiving another 6” today. Slope mode is useless in this situation, it can’t turn without getting stuck, and it rides on top of the snow so it has zero grip trying to turn. Plus, it can’t track the line it wants very well because it slip slides across the top of the deep snow trying to find its way up - and with the auger off it keeps getting wedged in unplowed snow.

This feature needs more time in the oven :smiley:

I don’t know how well it would reverse up the hill if it put the auger to full height, but I’ve been manually driving Yarbo in order to try and get enough passes to cut down the snow depth so hopefully I can go back to an automated mode one day soon.

The pattern of taking a full swipe at the snow going downhill and returning up trodden path works OK, but in deep snow I need to go down the hill over the same tracks several times in order to remove enough snow for traction going back up.

It sounds odd, but is there a preferred way to give Yarbo a helping hand up the slopes? I’ve tried pushing it with my foot, pulling the snow blower module to correct its angle and find traction, leaning over and putting both hands on the handles on the core and pushing it along.

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I agree slope mode and its escape maneuvers overall need refinement. Works best when clearing 1-2 inches of snow at a time. Any reason you need it to routinely do deep snow?

Oh I sure hope this isn’t routine. I hate being behind on the accumulation, I know Yarbo works best with small amounts of snowfall at a time. It was just an unfortunate series of events. I got my replacement core home just when snow started falling again yesterday, and it hasn’t stopped since. Actually it may have stopped now, I’m awaiting another charge cycle before I go out and try and clear more snow. I think I have a few days of snow-free reprieve to catch up. Lucky I’m on holidays.

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