Every farmer knows that weeds compete with plants for space, sunlight and soil nutrients. They can also make it easier for insect pests to harm crops, so weed control is hardly the most important task for farmers.
Chemical herbicides can kill pesky plants, but they can also contaminate water and affect soil health. Weeds can be pulled by hand, but there are fewer workers willing to do such tasks each year, and labor shortages are already a huge problem in agriculture.
That’s why a few years ago, Carbon Robotics in an effort to environmentally solve the weed problem introduced its Autonomous Weeder, a smart agricultural robot that identifies weeds and then destroys them with lasers. Now the company has borrowed the technology from that robot to create a trailer-mounted LaserWeeder that kills twice as many weeds.
This machine looks like a big cube on wheels. It destroys weeds without harming soil or water and operates autonomously, eliminating dependence on manual labor.
As it drives along rows of crops, its 12 cameras scan the ground. An on-board computer powered by artificial intelligence identifies weeds, and the robot’s carbon dioxide lasers kill these plants.
Carbon Robotics’ classic weeder can kill about 100,000 weeds per hour and weed 15 to 20 acres of crops in a single day – by comparison, a laborer can weed about one acre in the same amount of time.
The new LaserWeeder is not self-contained – it must be pulled by a row crop tractor. However, it has three times as many lasers as an autonomous agricultural robot and can process two acres and kill 200,000 weeds in one hour.
These machines are now demos, but the LaserWeeder laser weeder is already available on the market.
While no cost is listed on the Carbon Robotics website, the company claims that producers who use the LaserWeeder find that it reduces weeding costs by 80% and pays for itself in 2–3 years.
The weeder automates one of the most difficult, expensive and time-consuming tasks on the farm, which is why demand is only growing.
The design of the implement is easily integrated into daily operations while simplifying weed control, providing stability to support business growth.
In the near future, the company is looking to expand production and update its lineup with more technologically advanced machines.
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