Weeds may be good for the soil in that they prevents erosion due to wind and rain. But when you have a farm filled with plants, weeds may become a big problem, as they suck up the nutrients that should be for your crops. For this reason, farmers have to remove them.
Carbon Robotics are very well aware of this weed problem in farms, and so the company has developed the Autonomous Weeder, a machine designed to “kill weeds without harming the soil or water, scans the ground with its 12-camera array, identifies weeds via onboard AI, then kills them with high-powered carbon dioxide lasers.”
The tractor-size Autonomous Weeder can kill approximately 100,000 weeds an hour and between 15 and 20 acres a day, compared to about a single acre by a human laborer, and without the damaging effects of herbicides or the inexact nature of killing them with fire. Plus the robot can work autonomously both day and night, with no need for food or bathroom breaks.
Unfortunately, this machine costs “hundreds of thousands of dollars,” according to the company’s CEO Paul Mikesel. But there are lease options available.
Still cool, though.
(Image Credit: Carbon Robotics/ Technabob)