https://carbonrobotics.com/laserweeder
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/farming-robot-kills-200000-weeds-hour-lasers
The agricultural world is witnessing a remarkable transformation, driven by groundbreaking technology. Among the most fascinating innovations is a farming robot equipped with lasers that can destroy hundreds of thousands of weeds in mere hours. This high-tech solution is not just a marvel of engineering but a timely response to persistent challenges in farming, from labor shortages to the environmental impact of chemical herbicides.
. . . The robot operates with minimal human intervention, scanning rows of crops using 12 high-resolution cameras that detect weeds in real time. Its onboard AI system processes this information, distinguishing weeds from crops with incredible accuracy. Once a weed is identified, carbon dioxide lasers target and destroy it instantly, leaving the surrounding soil undisturbed. This approach eliminates the need for chemical herbicides, reducing environmental harm while preserving soil health. It also alleviates the physical burden of manual weeding, offering farmers a more efficient alternative.
Beyond its functional benefits, the introduction of robots like the Autonomous Weeder marks a significant shift in the agricultural sector. These machines demonstrate the potential of integrating AI into farming practices, enabling farmers to achieve more with fewer resources. As the capabilities of such robots continue to expand, they are not only solving immediate issues but also setting the stage for a future defined by sustainable and technologically advanced agriculture.
. . . Economically, the LaserWeeder is a sound investment. While the initial cost may seem substantial, its ability to cut weeding expenses by up to 80% means that the machine pays for itself within two to three years. This rapid return on investment, combined with its labor-saving capabilities, makes it a practical choice for farms of all sizes. As more farmers experience its benefits firsthand, the LaserWeeder is solidifying its place as a vital tool for modern agriculture.
(more, including pix and a short video)
When they eventually shrink it down to a scale to be able to cover a domestic garden. There’s going to be a lot of happy gardeners and old people.
Then we need something that hits stink bugs, jap beetles, squash borers, etc.
It identifies weeds using optics, so I don't see why we couldn't teach the lasers to identify pest bugs, too.
How about Liberals? Jus sayin!
Kek! They do have some visual commonalities, so... sure!
The blue hair will help.
Just go thermal and kill anything living on the crops. Wonder if it can ID pedos?
Not ladybugs, they eat the aphids and don’t hurt the plants.
Half of the ladybugs are Asian Lady beetles. The tranny version of the ladybug. They do damage.
Yes, and they emit an awful stink when you squish em.
Skynet?
Sky's the limit! ;)
Personal nano-drones that zap all the mosquitos around you.
Mosquitoes
That'd be nice. Thankfully not much of an issue where I'm at in NC.
You don’t have mosquito’s in NC ?
In our lifetime, we'll see late night commercials for the "Bell and Howell" garden bot. Right after the Billy Mays and Shamwow versions ;-). The technology is advancing at a rapid pace and really cool to see and watch.
Let cows eat em and we'll eat the cows.
Sub-millimeter precision cows? Do you know how farming works?
You keep the vegetables, I'd rather have the cows.
Farmer here, don't want to dox myself but I have a relative that also farms and they ran a trial plot this year where they were given an experimental solar powered weeding robot. It failed miserably! It obviously needed more power than some panels could give it because it absolutely couldn't keep up. Also I think it killed most of the crop.
I do think there can be a bright future for automatic weeding machines but they'll need to run on diesel not wind or fairy farts
Amp those fairies up with Taco Bell, and you are looking at a pretty volatile source.
Interesting. I'm not surprised that some efforts at this tech have failed; that's true with most technologies. I'll be interested to see how CarbonRobotics and their competitors are doing over the next few years.
"Weeds" are not what we need to eliminate. The weeds are earth's natural mechanism to balance out nutrients in the soil. Weeds have strong tendency to sustain, pull minerals deep from underneath and bring it to surface. They are excellent composting materials when naturally perished depending on the season. Don't go against the nature, but work with the nature to discover wonders and gifts it gives. Most "weeds" are actually either edible as foods or excellent medicines.
I understand the need to remove weeds in mass agriculture to yield profits. But that's the fundamental problem with Big foods. The food grown in such fields are not natural. Mono-culture is not only harmful to the soil but also destroys Eco-system all around it. The earth is meant to express itself by encouraging variety of flora and fauna on its surface. If we just allow it to to what it wants to do, we thrive along just fine. That's the principle of permaculture, which is a fast growing initiative by many awakened farmers.
Robots with AI and lasers on mass scale? What could go wrong? I can't believe all the excited comments on this post! I thought this was a conservative forum.
The excitement is because poison chemicals being sprayed on our FOOD is a bad thing, and this can eliminate much of that.
As for your point about the benefits of weeds: I suspect what needs to happen is to optimize the robot's actions: kill all of only X1 weeds, 20% of of X2 weeds, kill 50% of X3 weeds every other year, and so on. There will be some algorithm that will minimize the harm and maximize the benefits of this method of farming.
Having said that, I believe you are correct that small-scale farming is better for the land, regardless of the care taken, than large-scale factory farming.
Yes, we have to go after pesticide companies for sure. Roundup and Monsanto were already in massive lawsuits and pretty sure, many more are in the queue.
But the mindset programmed into the AI is still very mainstream. I do my own gardening in my backyard, I don't pull out any weeds. I actually eat many of them. In spring my backyard is full of various greens, but are not popular or sold in the markets although they are rich in nutrients and minerals (dandelions, wild lettuce, mallow, lambsquarters, purslane, etc). I know that these help build healthy soil as I observed and I hardly have to water my garden since roots of these weeds hold water and nutrients that help with other formal crops.
Trying to solve one problem, we are introducing myriads of other problems like always. Let the nature be nature.
Yes let nature be nature . I love my lizards, in my yard, I always Call them my little frens as they run around .
Me too! I don't like the rats though... they are just evil.
I love your comment , so true my fren ! Best thing I’ve read in awhile . I hope you live in a beautiful area in our country !
Thank you fren, I wish I was in a rural area, but no, I am in the city, in the heart of silicon valley.
They also have a more conventional system that optical scans and sprays only the weeds.
Professor Ted warned us about this. Eventually people will be useless eaters. Only the Amish will last—at least until Elon’s robots get them.
That tech has been testing for a while. Glad to see it’s gaining some recognition
That is a lot of unskilled labor being replaced by robots. I don't think they are the type to learn to code. What will they do next? Desperate men do desperate acts.
I would rather we practice permaculture, polyculture, silvopasture and regenerative agriculture. Weeds are gods answer to our mismanagement.
It should be tooled to work with weeds and insects. Good insects stay, bad go ZZZAP. Imagine eliminating the need for pesticides entirely. Taste the Laser!
I hope you're right, and with the March of Technology [TM], why wouldn't you be?
There's probably a robot that does that with humans
plot twist
The farms that grow the plants for the essential oils I utilize use sheep in certain fields to help with weeds. They also use the distilled oils that don’t pass their tests for use back into the fields as natural pest management. It’s actually easy to not poison the earth if you choose not to be evil.
I want the hand held version for my own garden!
Nice! So much for AI being always bad.
It is!!! I read the title as "Farming Robot kill 200,000..." My mind went to people, then I read the rest.
Same
Trump should subsidize this technology so lefties start drinking glyphosate in protest.
Is there a link?
I don't understand why you're asking; there are two -- one to a company that makes these things and one to a Zerohedge article on the topic -- right at the top of the post.
In case they aren't showing up for you, here they are again:
https://carbonrobotics.com/laserweeder
https://www.zerohedge.com/technology/farming-robot-kills-200000-weeds-hour-lasers
Yea... sorry, this has been happening a lot on this platform. Comments allude to having watched a link but the post doesn't link to it for me. It just reloads the post. Weird.
Where can I get one of these? 😄
We need these at polling locations.
also great for pest control
I 🧡 this. lots of cancer in the midwest, from all the Roundup. Of course you could never tell anyone that...
glad it's finally being exposed.
Damn, I've hoed a lot of weeds. Got 25cents an hour.
200,000 / hour
3,333 / minute
55 / second
Weedbot go brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Whatever you do, DO NOT let John Deer get ahold of this technology.
That's cool! The scope and breadth that robotics is expanding into a great.