Like a Roomba for the sand, beach-cleaning robot makes debut at Lake Tahoe

LAKE TAHOE, Calif. (KABC) -- Summer's almost here, which means big crowds at Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately, that also means a lot of trash.

That's where a robotic trash picker-upper comes in.

It's solar-powered, remote-controlled and works similarly to Roomba vacuum cleaners.
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It can cover five miles of sand in an hour, collecting trash buried up to four-inches deep.

It got a first trial run at Tahoe's Kiva Beach Thursday.
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The plan is to use it at least once a week throughout the summer.