## Problem and rough solution
Salt is vastly overapplied to parking lots and other places in the winter. This has a number of problems:
- Causes damage to vehicles and property
- Causes environmental damage
- Could eventually lead to stricter regulation
- Expensive in terms of raw materials
Additionally, the application is a nontrivial labor expense.

Could we reduce the amount of salt we applied with precision, potentially automated, application?
- By taking readings of the parking lot (either with IR temp sensors, cameras, or a fusion thereof), we could apply salt at a variable rate.
- By having an automated/robotic system we could apply salt on a more regular basis, reducing overall salt usage
- By being able to swap/adjust between different media of salt (coarse, fine powder, or brine) we could further drive salt usage down

## Numbers & Napkin Math

(I'm just putting what I recall from our brief call - please correct these numbers)

- 2.3 pounds per 1000 sqft at 30F
- at 16F that usage can triple
- so 2.3 - 10 # / 1000 sqft; average at 6 let's say

There might be 12 (?) applications of salt per season?
Parking lots are obviously quite variable. 
- A walmart parking lot might be 320,000 sqft (x12x6/1000 = 23,000 # of salt / season)
- A midsize lot might be 40,000 sqft (x12x6/1000 = 2,900 # of salt / season)
- A much smaller lot might be 10,000 sqft (x12x6/1000 = 720 # of salt / season)


## Clarifying Questions
- How do you deal with cars in the lot? Do you just salt traffic lanes?

## Potential Solutions
	These aren't necessarially good ideas
		You gotta throw weird shit out there and let it marinade

#### "Big Snow Roomba"
- An automated robot around the size of a zero-turn lawnmower
- Heck it might *be* the same platform as a robotic lawnmower. This problem is already solved/being solved by others.
- Holds a capacity of 320 pounds of salt (for a 320,000 sqft walmart parking lot)
	- (how do you deal with the fact that you have cars?)
- Manually refilled at end of day -OR- mates with a docking station to get more salt/brine and power
- Has IR sensors and cameras to read ground condition
- Has fancy salt spreader that adjusts on the fly in response to changing ground condition

#### "Smart Spreader" / "Precision Salting"
Bring the basic idea of precision planting tech (and I would imagine, also exists on spreaders) to salt spreading.
- Add-on / replacement spreader for existing salt trucks
- Spread salt in a more even pattern
- Improved accuracy of dosing
- Sensors on front of truck read ground condition and set dosing parameters accordingly
- Optional GPS/RTK system helps operator hit all regions of a lot
	- Automatic shutoffs 
- Really fancy CANBus system taps into engine and sets a speed limit for drivers

#### "Zero Turn Salter"
- Retrofit (add-on kit for?) a manual zero-turn mower that has the ability to spread 100# of salt at a time
- Use some of the same "smart spreader" tech


## Existing Solutions
- Thad: talk to BCS and understand what already exists and is in use in the ag world for application
- Capra Hircus Saltnex
- www.thesnowbot.com / www.yarbo.com
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