The SNOA Company

1234 Clearwater Drive

Fargo, ND 58103
11/16/2015
Mr. Thomas E. Muffin
Bell State Bank & Trust
413 13th Street
Minneapolis, MN 56560
Dear Mr. Thomas E. Muffin:
Thank you for considering financially supporting The SNOA Company. Here at The SNOA
Company, we are making leaps and bounds in self-automated technology. We are confident that
you will be very satisfied with an investment in our product.
The information included will help to explain what exactly our plans are from cost and market
analysis to our future vision. If you have questions, please feel free to contact any of us at
thesnoa@businessmail.net or at 701-321-4257.
At The SNOA Company we aim to rebuild day-to-day life though self-automation. Again, thank
you for your consideration in The SNOA Company.
Sincerely,

Levi Erickson, Nathan Hanson, Darrin Frederick, Austin Bosse

The SNOA Company

SNOA: Self-Navigating Automaton

Design Proposal

North Dakota State University

16 November 2015
Levi Erickson, Darrin Frederick, Nathan Hanson, Austin Bosse

Table of Contents
I.

Executive

II. Background Information

III. Problem Statement

III. Proposed Solution

i. Powertrain Function

ii. Sensors and Technology

IV. Design
i. Safety Considerations

5
6

V. Cost overview

VI. Conclusion

VII. Work Cited

Executive Summary
The purpose of this summary is to familiarize the reader with the concerns this proposal is
resolving and the basic parts and operating principles of the designed solution.
Every year during the snowy months, people throughout the northern hemisphere are exposed to
dangerous, frigid, slippery, and snowy weather conditions. With these conditions injury rates are
can be high, especially during current snow removal processes. Both through shoveling and
snow blowing to remove snow people can slip, fall, and injure themselves. The risk of injuring
oneself while snow blowing is quite larger when compared to shoveling. People can injure
themselves quite seriously snow blowing if they are not careful as some injuries have led to
amputations or hospital visits. Two last concerns are people spending too much time removing
snow when their time could be focused elsewhere and enabling people to get to where they need
to be on time.
Our solution to these concerns is a SNOA: Self-Navigating Automaton. The SNOA is a compact
piece of machinery designed to remove snow autonomously or without an operator. A standard
SNOA is roughly 5 square feet excluding the plow attachment. A SNOA is primarily
constructed of 6 main parts including the recharge station: a plow with an embedded
piezoelectric sensor, a salt or sand spreader, a laser scanner, rubber tracks, and an engine.
The SNOA uses the electric start to start the engine. Once started the SNOA scans the area
utilizing the laser scanner. The engine can operate each of the tracks individually forwards or
backwards allowing the SNOA to propel forwards or backwards and to turn right of left. The
SNOA begins a pre-planned and optimized path for removing the snow. As it works, the SNOA
continuously scans for obstacles and other hazards. After making a first pass over its entire
desired area, it uses information pulled and analyzed from the piezoelectric sensor as well as the
weather reports to decide whether or not to keep plowing and removing snow. Once SNOA has
completed clearing all snow from its desired area it returns to its recharge station to refuel on gas
and refill sand or salt into its spreader as it awaits its next command.

Background Info
There are two areas which would be helpful to have a brief overview of: the snow blowing and
snow removal industry and the autonomous equipment industry. The snowblower is an item that
is often associated with winter in the northern portion of the US. Snow blower is a misnomer, as
the machines actually throw the snow. Snowblower comes from designs used by railways in
the late 1800s to cut up snow on the track and use a large fan or jet to blow it to the side. The
snow thrower was invented by Arthur Sicard in 1925. The original snow thrower was created to
be attached to a pickup truck. In 1951 it was downsized by Toro to a size that a single person
could walk behind (Toro 6). Ariens, Gilson, and a few companies followed soon thereafter.
There are about 155 companies in the snow blower industry, with many of the large names such
as Toro, Craftsman, and Husqvarna taking up a large portion of the market according to the US
Census Bureau. Snow blower units range in price from $200 to upwards of $2000. The total
snowblowing industry is worth around 575 million dollars, with around 1 million units being
sold each year also (US Census Bureau). Many of the names that are big in the snow blowing
industry are also major competitors in other home and garden equipment industries. For
example, Toro and Craftsman also manufacture riding lawn mowers, push lawn mowers,
handheld edgers, and trimmers, just to name a few product lines.
Besides the snow throwers themselves, a large competitor in the snow removal industry is the
small, locally owned and operated snow removal companies. These companies normally consist
of one or two people with some shovels, a large snow thrower, and a snow plow. There are
dozens of these businesses in any large city. People provide this service as a hobby or second
job to get a little extra money. These companies can cost anywhere from $40 - $60 per visit.
The second industry is the autonomous equipment industry. Right now there are very few
companies marketing products in this market. The most notable one is iRobots Roomba, an
autonomous vacuuming robot for ones house. The other notable player is Googles autonomous
car. These vehicles, while not being yet on the market, have logged millions of miles in
California during testing (Google 6).

Problem Statement
The northern portion of the US receives an average of BLANK of snow and ice per year. This
means that people need to be be out clearing their driveways and watching their step whenever
snow is on the ground. Each year people are injured from slipping and falling because of poorly
maintained walkways. Slipping on ice and snow is by far the most common form of injury
relating to falling according to a study conducted by Maines Government as one can see in
Figure 1 on the next page (Dawson 3).

Figure 1 Maine lost time injuries from slips and falls.

These slips and falls usually stem from a lack of care on the part of the property owner. In
Maine alone there were over 1000 work related slips. This information is just concerning lost
time slips, meaning that the individual had an injury severe enough to prevent them from
working for some amount of time. And this is only for the state of Maine. The actual number of
snow and ice related injuries for the whole northern US population can be assumed to be
magnitudes greater than the number shown.
Walkways should be kept clear and safe at all times to prevent these injuries. Snow can fall at
anytime and over large areas. People in the northern US states have to deal with snowfall on
average of 25 days and remove over 46 of snow per year (Osborn 4). These are 25 days where
a property owner must spend anywhere from 0.5 to 2 hours shoveling snow off of their property
or paying someone else an average of $40 - 60 per snowfall to complete this service. Often, the
property owner is busy at work and the snow removal contractor is busy with other
customers. Because of this property walkways can stay covered in snow for a full day or two
before it is removed. By this time, people have already walked over it and had a chance to slip
and fall.
As the world becomes a more and more technologically advanced, with nearly everything being
connected wirelessly, companies have began to develop machines that can do tasks for us
autonomously. Two prime examples of this are iRobots Roomba and Googles autonomous
car. Both of these products aim to eliminate a task that many people dislike. The Roomba
vacuums a persons house and the autonomous car aims to drive people around. At the SNOA
company, our goal is to provide a similar service: an automated machine that will clean
sidewalks and driveways. This machine will not only save the property owner time and money,
but also prevent bumps, bruises, and broken bones for everyone.
There are a few key constraints with this idea. The first and most important is safety. Powered
machines without proper sensors and safety bounds can easily cause harm to people and property
if they cannot see and sense them. There are codes and guidelines to follow as set forth by the
Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC). A second constraint for the SNOA is
cost. People must be able to purchase and use the machine and feel it is helpful. Consumers
must be shown the benefit of having such a piece of equipment. The last main constraint is that

this machine is currently only meant for residential driveways and sidewalks currently. If
opportunity presents itself in the future The SNOA Company would like to pursue more
applications of this technology.

Proposed Solution
SNOA is a very innovative and advanced machine designed to continuously remove snow from
residential driveways and sidewalks. One of these advancements is the ability to scan an area and
assess how to complete its objective.
SNOAs compact design enables it to fit easily in the corner of a garage as its footprint is
approximately five square feet, not including the plow attachment. This compact design also
allows SNOA to maneuver easily in and around corners utilizing its individually operated rubber
tracks producing a zero turn radius.
The rubber tracks are designed to allow maximum grip in icy conditions meanwhile not
damaging the surfaces it drives on. This feature is designed to operate similar to the Road
Graders as they can keep traction on icy gravel.

Powertrain Function
Along with SNOAs compact size, SNOA utilizes a strong compact engine producing high
torque allowing it to remove large amounts of snowfall. SNOAs powertrain system consists of a
5.5 horsepower engine, a pump, two hydrostatic transmissions, and electronic controls.
By designing SNOA with a hydrostatic drive it enables this machine to outperform other
mechanical and electrical variable speed drives and gear driven transmission. This is due to the
fact that hydrostatic driven machines offer faster response, precise and maintained speed under
varying loads, allow infinitely variable speed control, continuous power without variable engine
revving, and increased available torque without shifting gears. A hydrostatic transmission creates
track or wheel rotation through pressurized fluid flow. The engine produces the forces necessary
to propel the SNOA while the two hydrostatic transmissions and pump control the fluid flow to
the desired track for the desirable direction. The fluid flow through the hydrostatic transmission
is controlled by two electronic sensors. Maximum fluid flow signaled from the sensors through
the transmission translates into maximum track rotation and vice versa.

Sensors and Technology

The electronic sensors and controls in the SNOA engine were designed to operate in frigid
temperatures. The electronic controls on this machine not only control the hydrostatic
transmission, rate of acceleration, and deceleration they also control the plowing height, the
angle of the hydraulically driven articulating plow, the piezoelectric sensor, the laser sensor, and
Autosense technology.
1. Piezoelectric Sensor- This sensor contains a small crystal which is connected in a circuit
to the onboard computer. This crystal is very sensitive to pressure changes. Any

pressure change on the crystal causes a small current to flow, which is then measured by
the computer. With calibration, the computer can use this pressure data to determine if it
needs to make another pass over the driveway, as well as when it runs into something
immobile.
2. LiDAR- LiDAR uses a sensor that uses both light and radar technology. It works by
illuminating the target and measuring the time it takes for the reflection to travel back. An
example of this technology is the Google Smartcar, which uses LiDAR to help drive
itself. A visualization of this technology is shown in Figure 2 on the next page (Google
Self-Driving Car Project).

Figure 2 Visualization of how Googles Smartcar sees

Each of the orange rings represents a pass of the laser scanner. The orange rings are spaced
closely together near the machine to obtain accurate readings of nearby objects. The rings
become more sparsely faded as the distance from the machine increases. This data further away
from the machine is less crucial to the immediate operation of the machine. The SNOAs
onboard computer analyses the information and communicates with its docking station in real
time to make decisions within a split second.

Design
We chose to make the SNOA look modern, but still be functional. The circular design allows it
to take up the smallest amount of area possible. The design minimizes the space it takes up
when not in use and eliminates sharp edges. This makes it safer to have around as it will not be a
hazard to its surroundings or people. Thus, a circular shape would be perfect for a device that is
self driven. The sensors were positioned so that they had a good vantage point and would not get
blocked while the SNOA was moving snow. The laser scanner is on the front top of the machine

where it has a large unobstructed field of view. The piezoelectric sensors are located in the
support arms for the plow where they can register the entire pressure exerted on the blade.
The blade of the SNOA was designed based on larger snow plows which appear on the front of
trucks. Similar to most snow plows, the SNOAs blade can be adjusted, allowing it to push snow
different ways. This type of snow plow is called V snow plow. The plow on the SNOA can
change the angle of its blades to three settings: a backward V (for moving snow to the side), a
straight line (to push snow forward), and a forward V (for pushing snow in a certain place.) With
these settings, the SNOA is just like a miniature version of larger snow removal vehicles. Below
in Figure 3 is an initial render of the SNOA with some labeled components.

Figure 3 Some components of the SNOA

Safety Considerations
The SNOA is a self-automated machine which raises a few safety concerns. The main concern
is that the SNOA could malfunction and drive off and harm someone or damage
something. There are redundant safety systems programmed into the machine to prevent
this. Also, the laser scanner is able to detect objects which are within a 10 foot radius even
during heavy snowfall. This will allow the machine to navigate any obstacles. Even if for some
reason this malfunctions and the SNOA collides with something, the piezoelectric sensor would
immediately register this and bring the machine to a halt before any damage had been
done. Using a plow design as opposed to a snow thrower helps to make the SNOA a safer
product. With a plow there are no spinning parts. Because of this the SNOA would be safer than

an average snow blower. As Dr. Jay Talsania, a surgeon in Allentown, Pa says, statistics show
that there's about 6,000 people a year that are getting injured by snow blowers and unfortunately,
about 10 percent of those result in amputations (Kilmer 18). The use of a SNOA could have
kept these people out of the emergency room.

Cost Overview
The selling price for the SNOA is to be approximately $2500 dollars. The actual cost for all the
components and assembly will cost $2200, leaving a $300 profit margin per unit. As the SNOA
becomes more popular and the automatic navigation technology becomes solidified, we plan on
releasing larger models which feature a snow thrower on the front instead of a snow plow. With
the basic SNOA cost at $2500, this places it at about 4.5 times the cost of the average
snowblower. However, this cost for the consumer can be spread out over five to ten years of
use. The purchase of a SNOA should be viewed as an investment. Overall, the SNOA will cost
less than any other snow removal option even over the timeframe of just five years. The cost
analysis is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 4 SNOA cost of ownership comparison over five years. (Based on an average snowfall
of 46 a year, an average cost of snow removal of $40, an average cost of a persons time to be
$20 per hour.)
As one can see from the graph above, the cost of ownership for the SNOA is roughly 15% less
than the next best option of owning a snowblower. If the period of time increases to 10 years,
the intended life span of the machine, the savings will be even larger for the property
owner. Each year all the end user must do is keep the SNOA filled with gas and salt/sand.

Conclusion
Designed to be the first of its kind, the SNOA is a safe, affordable, and efficient autonomous
snow removal machine. We believe that SNOA will give people the opportunity to spend more
of their time elsewhere instead of shoveling or snow blowing snow during the winter months in
the northern hemisphere. As SNOA removes snow without any human interaction, this in itself
can eliminate most of the injuries involving snow blowers as well as the injuries caused from
slipping and falling.
Although there is risk in supporting a new product launch, we believe the future vision with the
autonomous snow removal industry is large and diverse. As this initial launch of the SNOA is
targeted primarily towards residential areas, in the future this idea can be directed towards
commercial businesses, residential streets, and businesses parking lots. Another future vision we
have is to make multiple head attachments. These could include different sized and shaped plows
for different applications as well as snow thrower attachments.
Based on the design and analyses contained in this report, SNOA has the ability to revolutionize
the snow removal industry. Through ground-breaking and never have thought of designs and
application, The SNOA Company has the potential to rise to the top in the snow removal
business through your support. With this concept being new to the snow removal economy and
industry, you are given the exclusive opportunity to change the way the world views snow
removal through this proposal.

Works Cited
"Google Self-Driving Car Project." Google. Google, n.d. Web.
"General Summary: Industry Statistics by Industry and Primary Product Class Specialization:
2012 " American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau, n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2015.
Kilmer, Liz. "Doctor: 6,000 People Injured by Snow Blowers Each Year." WFMZ. Maranatha
Broadcasting Company, Inc. Web. 13 Nov. 2015.
Osborn, Liz. "Average Yearly Snowfall by American State." Average Snowfall by USA State.
Current Nexus Results, n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
The Toro Motor Company. History Timeline. Bloomington: Toro Motor, 2014. Print.
USA. Maine Department of Labor. Slipping and Falling on Ice - A Serious Workplace Hazard.
By Mark B. Dawson. Augusta: Maine State Department of Labor, 2014. Print.