Weed zapping robot makes debut

A robot that uses lasers instead of herbicide to kill weeds has recently surfaced in the United States and is making waves in the global ag industry with its innovation.

The Autonomous Weeder was the brainchild of Carbon Robotics, an agri-robotics company based in Seattle, USA. The company has been working on the robot since 2018 and has since launched it on to the market. Not only that, they’ve sold out of the robot for 2021 and is now taking orders for delivery in 2022.

While technology utilising AI or sensors to eliminate weeds have been around for some years, such as Agrifac’s AiCPlus and Weedseeker’s spot spraying systems, Carbon Robotics’ machine was the first to use high power lasers instead of chemical to get rid of weeds.

It uses thermal energy to ‘zap’ the weeds without disturbing the soil, hence reducing the use of herbicide on farms that in turn promotes cost efficiency and environmental sustainability, Carbon Robotics claimed.

“AI and deep learning technology are creating efficiencies across a variety of industries and we’re excited to apply it to agriculture,” said Carbon Robotics CEO and Founder, Paul Mikesell.

“Farmers, and others in the global food supply chain, are innovating now more than ever to keep the world fed. Our goal at Carbon Robotics is to create tools that address their most challenging problems, including weed management and elimination.”

The Autonomous Weeder is equipped with 12 high-res cameras and an onboard supercomputer that has been fed with various crop and weed vision. Working with the cameras, the computer can differentiate between crop and weed on-the-go, in miliseconds.

When weeds are detected, a series of weeding modules are activated accordingly that shoot carbon dioxide (CO2) lasers with 150W of power and 3mm accuracy to ‘zap’ the weeds. The modules are ready to fire every 50 millisecond.

According to Carbon Robotics, the Autonomous Weeder can kill over 100,000 weeds per hour.

The fact that the machine is unmanned allows it to work night and day to cover more ground compared to a spot spraying system requiring operators to manually drive the sprayers.

The Autonomous Weeder also features GPS and computer vision guidance that allows it to stay within the boundaries of the field, navigate furrows and turn accurately at the headlands. LiDAR sensors onboard the machine allow it to detect obstacles so as to prevent collision and damage to the machine.

Carbon Robotics said the deployment of its robot will yield several benefits for farmers, including:

Unlike tillage, lasers leave the soil microbiology undisturbed. The lack of herbicides and soil disruption paves the way for a regenerative approach, which leads to healthy crops and higher yields, Carbon Robotics said.

Automated robots enable farmers to reduce the highly variable cost of manual labor as well as reduce the use of crop inputs such as herbicides and fertilisers.

Traditional spraying methods often cause chemical drift or run off which affects soil health, cause environmental issues and even affect human/animal health. A laser-powered, autonomous weed management solution reduces or eliminates farmers’ needs for herbicides.

Carbon Robotics’ said its technology is designed for row crops with 200 acres to tens of thousands of acres and can weed 15-20 acres per day.

The robots have undergone beta testing on specialty crops farms, working on fields with a variety of crops, including broccoli and onions.

Onion specialist farm, New Mexico-based Carzalia Valley Produce, was one such operation that has worked with Carbon Robotics to test run the Autonomous Weeder.

“This is one of the most innovative and valuable technologies that I’ve seen as a farmer,” said Carzalia Valley Produce’s James Johnson.

“I expect the robots to go mainstream because of how effectively they address some of farming’s most critical issues, including the overuse of chemicals, process efficiency and labor. These robots work with a variety of crops, are autonomous and organic. The sky’s the limit.”

The company is currently taking orders for the 2022 growing season. Carbon Robotics said it will continue to explore new robot models and capabilities to help farmers improve efficiency across a variety of tasks.