A perfect example of the old saying "necessity is the mother of invention" occurred recently with robotic snow plows making life a little easier and funner for snow-buried humans. Unusually heavy snow in Niigata, Japan (possibly due to global cooling) was partially cleared by the 880 pound Yuki-taro plow using a pair of snow-seeking cameras. Then comes Herdy-Gerdy, the remote-controlled golf-cart turned snow-plowing robot built by the now famous Bill Lauver of Middleburg, PA.