Brush Removal in a Private Estate for Defensible Space Compliance

Problem

A private estate owner in Santa Cruz faced a tough situation. The property sat on top of a mountain—too steep and remote for traditional machines to reach. Labor costs were high, crews were hard to find, and fire season was approaching. With defensible space compliance deadlines looming, fines were a real threat. DIY was not an option either—a previous attempt with rented equipment nearly ended in disaster when a large machine toppled on the slope

Solution

The terrain exceeded 27° in slope—well beyond safe limits for manual crews or standard equipment. We deployed two PHX series bots: one for precision clearing in tight spaces near structures, another for broad vegetation removal across the general area. When it was time to refuel, our trained operators used satellite-powered teleoperation to guide the bots safely down the mountain and back up—no crew needed on the dangerous terrain. The full operation was completed in 72 hours, with zero safety incidents and no human presence required on the slope.

Results

Here is a quick comparison of our solution vs existing solutions

Feature Name	Our Autonomous Bot	Traditional Mowers
Maintenance	Requires minimal maintenance with automatic sofware updates.	Requires high maintenance
Personnel Safety	High - Personnel is not directly involved	Low - Personnel is directly involved
Active Operational Hours	24 X 7 Operational Hours	6-8 Hours X 5 Days a week
No of Labourer/Operartor required	1	2-5
Slope Capability	Upto 60 Deg	Slope 21 to 27 Deg

Our field deployment proved it: two autonomous robots delivered the same results as a traditional mowing crew at just 20% of the cost.