Video: Autonomous weeding robot improves crop yield, costs
Marie Donlon | April 14, 2021Autonomous robotics firm Carbon Robotics has developed a third-generation autonomous weed-eliminating robot for the farming industry.
The so-called Autonomous Weeder uses artificial intelligence (AI) and laser technology to autonomously navigate through crop fields, identifying, targeting and eliminating invasive weeds.
The Autonomous Weeder can reportedly weed up to 16 acres a day using high powered-lasers to destroy the weeds via thermal energy without harming the soil or crops, destroying as many as 100,000 weeds per hour.
Source: Carbon Robotics
According to Carbon Robotics, the Autonomous Weeder improves crop quality and yield, does not disturb soil, eliminates the use of dangerous herbicides and reduces the reliance on and cost of manual labor, which is currently in short supply.
For more information about the Autonomous Weeder, watch the accompanying video that appears courtesy of Carbon Robotics.
Clever machine, reduces a labour force to a few. However, 'and reduces the reliance on and cost of manual labor, which is currently in short supply". A few times I have seen this proclamation mentioned. Is this brain washing to justify a machine replacing people, who will never eat the produce as they will not be able to afford the produce. And if they are smart they will grow it themselves to while away the idle time. Afterall, there is certainly no shortage of people looking for work these days. Quite the reverse of the claims made above.
Looks to me like a catch 22 situation, invest in machines, reduce work forces and the farmer will loose income and incur a debt to pay off equipment. Seems a little absurd.
Has technology not gone too far and we have become ruled by techie idiots who are to lazy of manual work, or to get a little dirty?
The definition of " workers " , is undocumented immigrants.
The definition of the phrase " in short supply " , is workers that are employed for dirt poor wages, working long hours in barely tolerable conditions.
The optimization of the farming process would be to eliminate all human contact with the production of foodstuffs.