As the herbicide market continues to grow past $30 billion in annual worth, tech companies are looking to get a piece of the farming pie. Enter Carbon Robotics and its impressive farming robot, which uses lasers to protect your precious crops.
Lasers: The Perfect Tool for your Farming Robot
Reported by DesignNews, Carbon Robotics’ new farming robot aims to use AI and laser guns to keep farms in tip-top shape. Dubbed “Bud”, the new crop-bot has been described as “The Terminator” but for weeds.
The autonomous laser robot is designed to help farmers save money by reducing the need for herbicide and manual labour while improving crop yields. To do this, the robot manoeuvres around fields, using a combination of artificial intelligence and lasers to eliminate weeds.
Bud is equipped with an AI processor designed by Nvidia, a masterclass AI company regarded for self-driving and video games. Additionally, “a dozen high resolution cameras” are used to spot crops and weeds. The robot even has a torch to work during nights.
Carbon Robotics’ farming robot is rated to kill 100,000 weeds per hour. This is done with eight 150-watt lasers that can be fired every 50 milliseconds. The device also has a 3mm accuracy window for success.
Watch a video of the device in action below:
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Artificial Intelligence will be a major part of farming
Introducing AI technology into farming almost sounds like a comedy skit. However, Carbon Robotics is adamant that the tech well become a major part of farming in the near future to protect crop yields.
“AI and deep learning technology are creating efficiencies across a variety of industries and we’re excited to apply it to agriculture,” said Carbon Robotics CEO and Founder, Paul Mikesell. “Farmers, and others in the global food supply chain, are innovating now more than ever to keep the world fed. Our goal at Carbon Robotics is to create tools that address their most challenging problems, including weed management and elimination.”
So, if you see Bud toiling away with sweat on its back on a local farm, know that the farmer who owns it is pretty tech savvy.