Innovative Iron Award: Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy Technology for Snowplowing
The off-highway equipment industry has made significant strides in 2024, introducing machines that are smarter, greener and more efficient and powerful than ever before. Compact Equipment‘s 2024 Innovative Iron Awards celebrate these advancements, highlighting equipment that sets new standards in performance, sustainability and operator comfort. See all the winners here. Below is our previous story on Teleo and its Supervised Autonomy technology, which is an Innovative Iron Award winner in 2024. This posted in early September. Now, let’s once again celebrate…
Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy Technology for Snowplowing
Snow removal is tough work. With early wakeups, long hours and cold weather, any way to make the task easier is welcome. Enter Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy technology. In March 2024, Teleo, a company known for building autonomous technology for heavy construction equipment, and Storm Equipment, one of the largest distributors of commercial snowplow equipment, introduced the only commercially available remote-operated and autonomous industrial snowplow in the United States. Pretty cool, huh? Let’s learn more.
Teleo and Storm Equipment Partnership
The partnership between Teleo and Storm Equipment started in 2023. The latter wanted to invest in snowplow driving simulators to train its employees. After testing out several training models, Storm Equipment wasn’t sold on any of them. The company was discouraged that the models didn’t have the same feel as operating real snow plows. Luckily, Storm Equipment discovered Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy at the 2023 edition of the CONEXPO-CON/AGG tradeshow. Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy is a technology which mixes autonomous and remote operations. It is designed to allow a single operator to control multiple machines from a comfortable command center.
“After trying out the technology firsthand, Storm Equipment decided that instead of investing in a simulator company to train its operators, it would upfit its machines with Teleo’s technology for remote and autonomous snow removal,” says Mark Piotto, vice president of sales at Teleo. “The remote-operated technology allows the operator to stay involved, always giving full attention to the snowplow. The on-board cameras provide a complete view around the vehicle, providing the operators with better visibility, especially during heavy snowfall. This makes it significantly safer for the operator than sitting in the snowplow.”
Bringing in RDO Equipment and John Deere
The two companies, along with support from dealer RDO Equipment Co., worked together to retrofit a John Deere 332G skid steer loader. They used Storm Equipment’s Metal Pless snowplow blade and Teleo’s Supervised Autonomy. According to the companies’ joint press release, “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.”
Check out our Machine Heads video detailing John Deere’s 334 P-Tier skid steer and 335 P-Tier track loader.
The Benefits
So, why would someone want to go this route for snow removal? Safety, efficiency and comfort all come to mind. For example, operators can clear more snow virtually anywhere while staying safe in their comfortable command center.
“The feedback from the Storm Equipment operators was extremely positive,” says Piotto. “The command center where the machines are remotely controlled was more comfortable than sitting in and operating a traditional snowplow, and the operators had better visibility into the job. 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 machine and plow on a jobsite across town, in a different state or even in a different country.”
Speaking of the labor pool, Piotto emphasizes that Teleo’s technology can also help broaden the talent search. This is important when looking for the next generation of snow removal specialists.
“Teleo’s technology can exponentially increase productivity of a single skilled machine operator because travel time to service multiple sites is removed, creating massive operational efficiencies for the snow contractor,” he says. “Teleo’s technology can also help broaden the talent pool — today’s streaming gamers could become tomorrow’s remote snowplow operators. Autonomous and remote operations make the snowplow operator role more attractive and accessible. Teleo eliminates physically demanding aspects of operating heavy machinery, like harsh vibrations or sitting inside the vehicle for long periods of time.”
Additional safety points include Teleo’s perception stack that detects obstacles — such as people and vehicles — and alerts the operator. Piotto also notes there are multiple redundancies built into the system. If there’s a network glitch or network loss, the snowplow will come to a safe, complete stop.
Going Remote
Want to go the remote operation route like Storm Equipment did? You’re in luck. Snowplow companies can easily transform their existing fleet with Teleo’s universal retrofit kit and Storm Equipment’s snowplow blade. According to Piotto, Teleo’s turnkey solution provides all of the components that are required to retrofit a contractor’s existing machine.
“Autonomous and remote-operated snow removal demonstrates undeniable value for contractors looking for the best return on their heavy equipment investments,” he says. “The remote operation of snowplows is a truly disruptive prospect for the industry. Snow removal companies typically don’t have just one make or model in their fleets. The fact that Teleo’s technology can be retrofitted onto virtually any piece of heavy machinery makes it a cost-effective option for the industry.”
Another plus is the machines can keep rolling even when the weather heats up. Piotto points out that equipment retrofitted with Teleo’s technology can continue working. It can be used year-round for landscaping and other site work. Applications such as loading gravel, peat moss and other bulk materials in the warmer months are easily accomplished when snow removal duties take a break.
“Teleo’s technology can be easily deployed onto those fleets, introducing the ability to integrate autonomous and remote-operated technology without the need to purchase new machines,” says Piotto. “Teleo’s technology can work on the machines to perform other functions in the warmer months, or the machines can still be used manually should the customer need to. This level of flexibility makes the system extremely scalable and cost effective.”
What’s Next for Teleo?
While the first Teleo-Storm Equipment partnership featured remote-operated usage, Piotto says to keep an eye out for autonomous functions.
“We began by rolling out remote operations with Storm Equipment and will be adding autonomous operations soon,” he says. “This means when the machine is running in autonomous mode. It will clear snow on its own until it encounters a task it can’t handle. When this happens, the machine stops and waits for the operator to take over to control the machine remotely.”
Pam Kleineke is managing editor of Compact Equipment.
