The perennial conflict between chemical and mechanical weedkillers could see a third solution win. If on the one hand the increasingly strong European environmental pressure constantly reduces the available active ingredients and on the other mechanical interventions require repetitive steps which however do not always prove effective, it could be laser weeding that can bring agricultural entrepreneurs to agreement.
At least that’s what the US start-up Carbon Robotics thinks, having designed and developed “LaserWeeder”, a weeding equipment operated on the basis of an artificial intelligence system which, through 42 high-resolution cameras, is able to recognize weeds to then eliminate them through a 150 watt laser beam emitted by one of the 30 pointers installed along the six meters of operational front proposed by the machine.
Awarded last year in the United States as one of the best innovations based on artificial intelligence, “LaserWeeder” is capable, according to Carbon Robotics, of working up to one hectare per hour and eliminating over five thousand weeds per minute, without prejudice which, being a portable piece of equipment, currently needs to be managed by a tractor with an operator on board, but the US start-up is already working on a self-powered version capable of operating 24 hours a day autonomously.
Title: The third way of laser weeding
Translation with Google
