Underneath Carbon Robotics' LaserWeeder (Photo courtesy of Carbon Robotics)Carbon Robotics, a Seattle-based AI-powered robotics company, has developed the most efficient way to rid massive farming fields of weeds.
The LaserWeeder, a chemical-free, no-till weed control solution for specialty crops, can eliminate over 200,000 weeds per hour and offer up to 80% cost savings in weed control, according to Carbon Robotics.
“We have what’s called a deep learning neural net,” Paul Mikesell, the CEO of Carbon Robotics, told Jason Rantz on KTTH 770 AM. It’s this subset of AI. And this computer is trained on a lot of images, 1000s of images with pictures from farm fields, where we know what the weeds are, and we know what the crops are. And we know what we’d like to eliminate.
The LaserWeeder, a chemical-free, no-till weed control solution for specialty crops, can eliminate over 200,000 weeds per hour and offer up to 80% cost savings in weed control, according to Carbon Robotics.
“We have what’s called a deep learning neural net,” Paul Mikesell, the CEO of Carbon Robotics, told Jason Rantz on KTTH 770 AM. It’s this subset of AI. And this computer is trained on a lot of images, 1000s of images with pictures from farm fields, where we know what the weeds are, and we know what the crops are. And we know what we’d like to eliminate.
And then we plug that AI system into a series of lasers that we have a millimeter level of control over where it’s going to hit on the ground. And the AI targets the weeds and burns them out of the farmer’s fields.”
The LaserWeeder is installed with 150W CO2 lasers with millimeter accuracy, ready to fire every 50 milliseconds.
“They don’t have to spray herbicides. They don’t have to hire farm workers to come out there and pull these weeds,” Mikesell continued. “The robot just takes care of it on its own. And it’s been incredibly effective.”
The LaserWeeder was crowned 2023’s “Best AI-based Solution for Agriculture” for its time-saving efficiency — lowering costs of labor — in the sixth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AI Breakthrough. Labor accounted for 28.2% of a modern farmer’s total expenses, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The average farm LaserWeeder has worked on has been approximately 4,000 acres in size, but the device can even be handy on smaller farms of sub-1,000 acres. Mikesell stressed the invention’s risk of fire is non-existent. READ MORE...
The LaserWeeder is installed with 150W CO2 lasers with millimeter accuracy, ready to fire every 50 milliseconds.
“They don’t have to spray herbicides. They don’t have to hire farm workers to come out there and pull these weeds,” Mikesell continued. “The robot just takes care of it on its own. And it’s been incredibly effective.”
The LaserWeeder was crowned 2023’s “Best AI-based Solution for Agriculture” for its time-saving efficiency — lowering costs of labor — in the sixth annual AI Breakthrough Awards program conducted by AI Breakthrough. Labor accounted for 28.2% of a modern farmer’s total expenses, according to USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
The average farm LaserWeeder has worked on has been approximately 4,000 acres in size, but the device can even be handy on smaller farms of sub-1,000 acres. Mikesell stressed the invention’s risk of fire is non-existent. READ MORE...
