Teleo, a provider of autonomous technology for heavy construction equipment, and Storm Equipment, a distributor of commercial snowplow equipment, rolled out a remote-operated and autonomous industrial snowplow commercially. Initially, the snowplows will be remote-operated and autonomous capabilities will be added in the first half of 2024.
“Remote operation of snowplows is a truly disruptive prospect for the industry,” said Jordan Smith, owner, Storm Equipment. “Snow removal companies typically don’t have just one make or model in their fleets, so the fact that Teleo’s technology can be retrofitted onto virtually any make and model of heavy machinery makes it a great option for the industry. Utilizing Teleo’s game-changing system, the shrinking pool of skilled snowplow operators can cover a lot more ground in a shorter time period. With the click of a button, they can move to a different loader and plow on a jobsite across town, or even in a different state. This effectively could quadruple the productivity of a single skilled staff member, creating massive operational efficiencies for the snow contractor. This technology could also open up snowplowing opportunities to those who are not already heavy equipment operators.”
With support from Teleo dealer RDO Equipment Co., the companies worked to retrofit a John Deere 332G skid-steer loader with Storm Equipment’s Metal Pless snowplow blade and Teleo Supervised Autonomy, Teleo’s technology that enables remote and autonomous operations.
The machine is designed for mass snow clearing in large open areas such as industrial parking lots. Customers can order the retrofit of any make and model of heavy equipment for remote-operated and autonomous operations from Teleo, along with an autonomous-ready snowplow blade properly sized for each machine type from Storm Equipment.
Once outfitted with Teleo’s retrofit kit, the machines are supervised by an operator sitting in a central command center. The machines are created to help solve staffing shortages in the commercial snowplow industry by allowing a single hired operator to work in multiple regions simultaneously.
