‘Weedspider’ has California in sight
A Kiwi tech company is in the final stages of developing the world’s first fully autonomous commercial weeding robot.
The Weedspider trundles along rows of vegetables using high-resolution cameras and artificial intelligence software to identify individual weeds, then removes them.
It is the invention of Greentech Robotics, based in Palmerston North, and the brainchild of its founder and chief executive Don Sandbrook, one of the key players behind aircraft-tracking device firm Spidertracks and the car parking management software company Frogparking.
Although the robot may sound like sweet relief for every weekend gardener, the company hopes to realise its commercial potential in California’s massive horticulture industry, such as the Salinas Valley, where almost 650,000 hectares are used to grow vegetables.
The robot is a follow up to the Seedspider, a seed-metering system that was Sandbrook’s first invention 30 years ago and is now used by 70 per cent of North American lettuce and carrot growers.
Sandbrook said those growers faced severe worker shortages, due to restrictions on migrant workers and rapidly rising wages.
They were desperate for efficient technological solutions and would be the main focus for Weedspider’s commercial launch.
‘‘My existing customers are saying tome, ‘as soon as you have a weeding robot ready, bring it here’.’’
Greentech director Rob Baan said the biggest distinctions for Weedspider was it didn’t need a human at the control and its functions went beyond pulling weeds. The Weedspider could identify different vegetable crops and perform appropriate ‘‘crop thinning’’ as it weeded.
Sandbrook said he hoped to begin selling the Weedspider next year following final field trials.