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Getting started: from install to your first map

Four small steps take you from a fresh install to a real map of your yard. You set it up once and then leave it alone. Yardstick runs quietly on your own computer and captures every job the robot does. Your recordings stay on that computer; there is no Yardstick account to create.

Where it lives: Settings → Your Yarbo Settings → Recording The whole setup is two panels and a few minutes.
The short version Install Yardstick on a computer that stays on. Sign in with your Yarbo account. Leave recording on. The next time the robot works, you get a map. That is the whole thing.

The four stages

Here is the path from nothing to a finished map. Each stage is covered in detail below.

STEP 1

Install

Put Yardstick on a computer that stays on.

STEP 2

Connect

Sign in with your Yarbo account and your robots appear.

STEP 3

Record

Keep automatic recording on and let the next job capture itself.

STEP 4

Read the map

Open the page and watch your yard fill in.

Step 1: Install on an always-on computer

Yardstick records the robot as it works, so it needs to be running when the robot is. Put it on a computer that stays on and has an internet connection. It does not need to be on the same network as the robot.

A mini-PC, a spare laptop, or a Raspberry Pi all work well. Yardstick runs as a small background service and starts with the computer, so once it is installed you do not have to launch anything. Leave the machine on and it keeps watch on its own.

Reach the page from anywhere on your network Once Yardstick is running, open it from any device, your phone or a laptop, at http://<computer-ip>:8477/ on the same network. For the normal secure route, open Settings → Access and login and copy the secure address.

Step 2: Sign in to your Yarbo account

Your robots come from your Yarbo account, so there is nothing to look up and no address to type. Sign in once and they appear.

  1. Open Your Yarbo

    In the browser, go to Settings → Your Yarbo.

  2. Enter the same details you use in the Yarbo app

    Fill in Yarbo account email and Yarbo account password and press Sign in. Your password is stored only on this computer, used to sign in to Yarbo on your behalf, and never sent to us.

  3. Your robots appear

    Every machine on the account shows up, named as you named it. If you add one later in the Yarbo app, press Check my Yarbo account and it joins the list.

The Your Yarbo settings panel, with fields for the Yarbo account email and password and a Sign in button.
Settings → Your Yarbo. The same account you use in the Yarbo app. Everything runs through it: recording, the map editor, scheduling, starting a plan and sending the robot to its dock.
Your recordings stay with you Everything Yardstick records is written to a database on your own computer and read back in your own browser. It is never uploaded to us.

Step 3: Let it record

This is the step that does the work, and it is almost nothing. You just make sure recording is on and then go about your day.

  1. Open Recording

    Go to Settings → Recording.

  2. Keep automatic recording on

    Leave Start recording automatically switched on. The next time the robot works, Yardstick captures the job and builds the map for you. There is nothing to press when a job starts.

The Recording settings panel with the Start recording automatically option switched on.
Settings → Recording. Keep automatic recording on so every job captures itself. Yardstick records less while the robot is parked.
Worth a look after the first job, worth trusting after a week Check the map once the robot has done a job, just to see it working. After a week of normal runs, you can stop thinking about it. Yardstick records less while the robot is parked, so it is not filling up on nothing.

Step 4: Read your map

Once a job or two is in, open Yardstick and your yard is there: summary tiles up top and a coverage map of everywhere the robot went.

The finished Yardstick dashboard: summary tiles across the top and a coverage map of the yard below.
Your finished map. Summary tiles and full coverage, built from the jobs Yardstick recorded. This is what you came for.

From here you can dig into a single job, read the coverage colors, or turn on the aerial photo underneath. The related guides below pick up where this leaves off.

A note on the secure address

Open Settings → Access and login and copy the secure address. Trusted certificate is on by default and gives a named HTTPS address with no browser warning. Use it on another device on the same network.

The numeric-IP fallbackThe https://<computer-ip>:8478/ address uses a self-signed certificate and may warn. See the secure address guide before using that fallback. The optional Yardstick page password is separate from your Yarbo account sign-in.

Stuck on any step? Open a support ticket and tell us what the panel says. Because Yardstick runs on your own machine, we can usually point you to the exact setting.

Related

🗺

The aerial photo

The real satellite view that slides under your map.
🧭

Reading your map

What the coverage colors and data layers mean.
🔔

Alerts

Get told when something needs your attention.

Yardstick won’t install or open

  1. Check which connection failed

    Recover after an update

    Check an antivirus detection

    Check a SmartScreen warning

    Download the installer

    Download the installer for your operating system from Download. On Windows, check that the installer came from that page before handling a SmartScreen warning.

  2. If SmartScreen says Windows protected your PC, open More info. Only choose Run anyway after checking the download’s source and publisher. If that option is unavailable on a managed computer, ask its administrator.

  • If antivirus blocks or quarantines Yardstick, read the detection and check its protection history. Do not turn antivirus off. Ask support to review the detection if you are unsure whether to allow the file.

  • If Yardstick won’t start after an update, restart the computer once, check antivirus protection history, and try opening Yardstick again. If necessary, run the current installer from Download again. Keep your recordings; do not delete the data folder or uninstall to troubleshoot an update.

  • If Yardstick opens on its own computer but not your phone, follow opening it on another device. If it opens but cannot find the robot, follow the Yarbo sign-in checks.

    • If it still will not start, contact support with the installer version, operating system and exact error. If the Settings page opens, send diagnostics and include the reference code.

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    Yardstick is an independent tool for Yarbo robots. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Yarbo Inc. · © 2026 Yardstick Technologies LLC.