Robot maker Andela is launching a new generation of its weeding robot that can cover a whole field and kill weeds at more than twice the previous rate, from 3 to 8 weeds per second per weeding unit, Future Farming reports. Behind the electric arm that shocks weeds, the machine can now carry a laser weeder, an idea taken from a large organic farm that had been using electrical and laser weed control at the same time.
The gain comes from new arms, which Andela calls M-pede arms, hung in a double row inside the frame. Like the earlier Delta arms they move along three axes, but each has a single connection to the frame, so the arms can sit 25 cm apart instead of 45 cm. That closer spacing is what allows full-field coverage, and the compact design lets two arms work one behind the other.
The robot comes with 4, 6 or 8/9 weeding units, for an in-row working width of 3 to 6 metres; the width is narrower in full-field work. Thanks to the extra capacity, a new 4.5-metre robot can do the work of the old 9-metre one. One version, with 10 units on a 2.5-metre frame, is being developed for sports pitches and golf courses.
The laser, built with Andela's own hardware and algorithm, uses blue diode light, which the company says is relatively cheap and energy-efficient; that matters on a robot that runs on batteries and solar panels. The laser targets small weeds, while the electric arm takes the larger ones and those far enough from the crop to avoid leakage current. On the organic farm, the laser handled every weed up to 5 mm and the robot did the rest. Andela says a laser on its own often lacks capacity when conditions favour weeds, and expects the combined unit to treat 15 weeds per second, although its final performance is not yet known.
From next season the robots will also turn on the headland by themselves and run fully autonomously, with new software and safety sensors. Andela hopes to fit the new arms to older machines, but does not expect that retrofit on the market before 2028. Prices for the new generation have not been set, but the company says they will be in line with the previous one. The report is by Lucas van de Weijer.
Photo: PaulineCant (an automated robot weeder, FarmWise Titan FT-35, on a lettuce field) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Source: Future Farming
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