The weed control equipment trundling through the field in southern Ontario checked a lot of sci-fi boxes.
They were robots, used artificial intelligence and killed weeds with laser beams.
Energy-based robotic weed removal offers a solution to herbicide resistance and labour challenges for producers reliant on hand pulling.
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Haggerty AgRobotics president Chuck Baresich explained that the Pixelfarming Laser One-i prototype, adapted for the Orio NAiO’s frame, arrived in March. NAiO is an autonomous field robot in its third year at the Ontario Crops Research Centre in Bradford.
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It features six laser units that use high voltage to energize a carbon dioxide tube, creating a focused beam that boils the liquid inside plant cells, effectively destroying the plant. “The lasers will shoot forward and back,” explained Baresich. “It will determine the optimum angle as you’re moving forward to hit the various weeds.”
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Baresich clarified that plant images at various growth stages and under different lighting conditions are necessary to develop a comprehensive crop model, noting that the rapid pace of technological advancement and the availability of open-source tools are accelerating the process.
