It is becoming increasingly difficult to be a farmer who does not offer organic products, and a non-toxic weed control is high on the agenda.

Autonomous Weeder from Seattle-based Carbon Robotics uses carbon dioxide lasers to get rid of the unwelcome plants. Now the robot startup has launched the third generation of its weed killer.

With the help of computer vision and GPS, their autonomous weed robot can maneuver through the fields, whether it is night or day, and stay within boundaries with the help of the geofence.

Lidar sensors must ensure that the vehicle avoids collisions with unforeseen obstacles. The vehicle uses machine learning to distinguish weeds from crops, when the vehicle is in motion. Carbon Robotics talks about the vehicle in one press release.

Twelve cameras read the field

Twelve HD cameras read the vegetation, and the vehicle’s eight laser modules can together kill 100,000 weeds per hour, according to the company. Each laser is at 150 W, and can be fired every 50 thousandths of a second. The accuracy is said to be within three millimeters, and in one day the vehicle should be able to clear 6-8 hectares.

The machine has a track gauge of 2.8 meters and weighs a total of 4.3 tons.

However, the manufacturer’s driveline is not quite as organic. A Cummins diesel of 74 hp drives four hydraulic engines, and the robot has a top speed of 8 km / h. According to Carbon Robotics, they have already sold out of model year -21.

The price for the weed killer does not want the manufacturer to state, writes the Seattle Times in an article, but according to CEO Paul Mikesell, it is around “a few hundred thousand dollars”.

The machine is not for the private plot – and a version adapted for the lawn is not included in the company’s plans at the moment, according to the newspaper.

Paul Mikesell founded the robot company after previously having a managerial job at Uber and was a co-founder of Isilon System, which was later bought by Dell.