Skip to main content

This trailer-towing robot is like a Roomba on steroids

TRAILER VALET RVR OFFICIAL VIDEO

Maneuvering a large trailer into a confined space like a garage isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially if you don’t have a second person present to help you guide it. That is where an impressive new robot aims to help. A bit like a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner packing some serious muscle, the new Trailer Valet RVR is a wireless miniature tracked tank that is capable of pulling remarkably heavy loads. How heavy? Try up to 9,000 pounds, from a unit that weighs only 77 pounds. Simply hitch the RVR to your RV or trailer and you can then remote control it from up to 40 feet away, with high levels of accuracy and an impressively full range of motion.

“The RVR is a highly advanced wireless remote-controlled trailer mover,” Jamie Buck, technical support and customer service representative for Trailer Valet, told Digital Trends. “Rechargeable with a lithium battery, the RVR can rotate 360 degrees with an easy-to-use remote control that comes pre-paired to each unit. Its caterpillar treads allow the RVR to operate on more types of terrain than previous models, including grass, dirt, gravel, and asphalt.”

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The trailer-moving bot comes in three different sizes, each designed to accommodate a specific trailer. Each RVR has between two and four planetary motors, capable of moving both single and dual axle trailers, and a lightweight aluminum body for corrosion resistance. “With an RVR, everyone who owns a trailer can easily maneuver [it] wherever they need, with the luxury of standing back and controlling from any angle they wish,” Buck continued. “Most of our customers use their Trailer Valet when fishing, camping, traveling, or when moving trailers all day at work.”

The 3,500-pound capacity RVR3 model will set you back $2,100, while you will pay $3,400 for the 5,000-pound capacity RVR5 and $4,100 for the 9,000-pound capacity RVR9 unit. According to Buck, both the RVR5 and RVR 9 models are currently stocked in Trailer Valet’s warehouse in Southern California, while the RVR3 is available for pre-order with a two- to three-month wait.

Until self-driving trailers become an everyday thing, this is just about the best high-tech solution you could hope for.

Editors' Recommendations

Luke Dormehl
I'm a UK-based tech writer covering Cool Tech at Digital Trends. I've also written for Fast Company, Wired, the Guardian…
Robot crushes man to death after mistaking him for a box
A smart factory concept.

A robot crushed a man to death after apparently mistaking him for a box, South Korean media reported.

The tragedy occurred on Wednesday evening local time at a vegetable sorting facility in South Gyeongsang province about 150 miles south of Seoul, according to the BBC.

Read more
Boston Dynamics uses ChatGPT to create a robot tour guide
boston dynamics uses chatgpt to create a robot tour guide spot ai

Making Chat (ro)Bots

Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot has already impressed us with its astonishing agility, but now it can make a pretty good tour guide, too.

Read more
Autonomous delivery robots at center of bomb scare ‘prank’
A Starship robot making a delivery.

A Starship Technologies robot on a delivery run. Customers place an order via an app and the robot delivers it inside a secure compartment. Starship Technologies

A bomb threat involving wheel-based delivery robots at an Oregon State University campus has turned out to be a prank following the reported arrest of a suspect.

Read more