Weeds are the leading cause of crop failure worldwide, responsible for killing 10% of commercial crops.
Smothering soil and damaging roots can smother plants, stunting their growth and eventually leading to their demise.
Herbicide control can be difficult with costly solutions that pose environmental hazards both to farmers and their environment alike - making them a priority for sustainable management.
Carbon Robotics has unveiled their laser-powered, self-driving farm bot that can weed an entire field without using herbicides. This robot claims to kill up to 100,000 weeds an hour with eight 150-watt lasers, according to the company.
This system utilizes laser technology to identify and distinguish weeds from crops using AI and deep learning, then targets those weeds precisely with eight lasers.
To do so, it utilizes an array of cameras and optic sensors working in concert with the eight lasers.
There are several advantages to a system like this that uses lasers instead of herbicides, such as being safer for farmers and the environment (herbicides can be toxic), having lower labor costs, fewer pests (weeds have no taste or smell so they won't spread), less water usage and fuel consumption, plus more accurate results with consistent consistency.
According to the company, laser weeding is faster and less labor-intensive than traditional methods, meaning it could potentially replace many manual hand-weeders currently in use by farmers.
The company has been field-testing the LaserWeeder at various locations, such as a vegetable farm near Seattle that typically employs around 30 people to weed 15 to 20 acres per day.
Mikesell plans to expand his team and develop an automated system capable of weeding farms as large as an acre at a time. He believes this is the answer to addressing the pressing problems facing commercial food production, and he's already garnering interest from investors who are taking chances on an industry that hasn't seen this level of innovation for decades.
Weeding presents a complex issue for many reasons, but most of all it's inefficient and costly.
Depending on the herbicide type used, it could do harm to crops and the ecosystem around them, degrade soil nutrients, increase herbicide resistance risks, or damage plants they work on - ultimately decreasing yields.
Herbicides can be a necessary evil in many instances, but they're not the best option for our planet or what we eat.
That's why Carbon Robotics is developing the LaserWeeder--which utilizes robotics, machine learning and laser technology to safely and effectively eliminate weeds.