3.1 KiB
3.1 KiB
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