Laser weeding - Carbon robotics as an example
Laser weeder was first introduced in organic growers of field vegetables in USA. Experiences have been very promising in large scale organic vegetable production. The price is from about 1M Euros and upwards. Payback is claimed to be as short as 3 years. The principle is to use high resolution cameras and AI-algorithms to detect weeds in the rows and use 240W lasers to kill weeds with sub-millimeter accuracy. There are algorithms ready for about 20 crops so far. They claim to kill some 99% of the weeds in the rows and it can be adjusted to different widths between rows. It is possible to weed the whole width, but normally one complements with mechanical weeding between the rows. The weeder is more efficient when the weeds are small. The smallest model G2 200 (2 m wide) can handle about 0.22 ha/hour, while the larger model G2 400 (4 m wide) covers about 0.5 ha/hour, when only weeds in the rows are controlled. There are now also one 6 m and one 12 m model on the market. The largest one has a capacity of up to 2 ha/hour and is also suitable for crops such as soybeans and maize.
Taking into account the growing problems with herbicide resistance and the lack of new active ingredients, the conventional growers will also be an important market in the future. Practical examples
Examples from US are from large producers of crops such as spinach, arugula, lettuce, cilantro and baby kale. The savings reported from two examples are approximately 800 Euros per hectar per year compared with manual weeding and then a depreciation of the equipment over 5 years is added to the cost. There are only a few examples of growers in Northern Europe, one in Denmark cultivating carrots, red beets etc. They have good experience from the first year of using the equipment, but a bit challenging for the driver. One grower of carrots and onions in Sweden has also recently invested in an equipment.
Additional information
Website to get more information: https://carbonrobotics.com/laserweeder
The names of the people Robbert Mureau, responsible for the market in Northern Europe: robbertm@carbonrobotics.com
European Thematic Network for unlocking the full potential of Operational Groups on alternative weed Control
Completed | 2022-2025
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Greece, Italy, Spain, Latvia, France, Sweden, United Kingdom