Tuesday, April 27, 2021

"This startup says its new laser-armed weeding robot is already sold out for 2021"

Nyuh, uh, uh. Fool me once.

Oh it was looking like the future I was promised back in July 2019:

"Remote-controlled Salmon Farms to Operate Off Norway by 2020"
"And then Mr. Poisonnier, the robots massage the salmon..."

And it just got better and better:
Also at IEEE Spectrum:
Lice-Hunting Underwater Drone Protects Salmon With Laser

Sadly, The Fish Site reports:
Lasers For Shooting Pests Off Salmon Don't Work As Well As One Might Think

I think we'll just wait and see.

From AgFunder News: 

Autonomous robotics company Carbon Robotics today debuted its third-generation weeding robot which combines AI and laser technology to take care of one of farmers’ least-favorite jobs.

“After meeting with a bunch of farmers and talking about their costs and biggest struggles with automation, weed control really kept popping up,” the startup’s founder and CEO Paul Mikesell tells AFN.

“So, we built an autonomous robot that drives itself and uses computer vision to kill weeds with a really high-powered laser.”

A single robot can weed up to 16 acres per day, replacing several hand-weeding crews, according to the Seattle-based startup. Each one weighs about 10,000 pounds and is the size of a medium tractor, using a hydraulic diesel system for power.

The bots are armed with eight 150-watt carbon dioxide lasers that are capable of cutting metal. They rely on computer vision tech to identify weeds and distinguish them from the valuable crops farmers are aiming to protect.....

....MUCH MORE