Robotic weeders: a promising agricultural innovation

Robots are one of the most talked-about innovations in agriculture, and rightly so—they can weed with precision, reduce soil compaction and shrink farm carbon footprints.

Scientists at the Sollio Agriculture research farm are always on the lookout for innovations that promote more sustainable agriculture.

They are currently working with two robots, the Erion and the Oz, to assess their effectiveness against other weeding technologies. The results so far are promising.
 

Smart, precise agricultural robots

Designed by Elmec, the Erion is a 100% electric, self-driving robot tractor with remote navigation capabilities.

Despite its massive appearance, it is relatively easy to operate. It moves quietly along the rows, weeding as it goes. When it reaches the end of a row, it stops, turns and starts working on the next row.

At just 83 centimetres tall, the Oz is tiny compared to the Erion. But don’t let its small size fool you—this robot can hoe, weed, furrow and even sow.

With two batteries, an Oz can work alone for up to eight hours, travelling at a maximum speed of 1.8 km/h. It can work at night and weed a hectare a day.

Around 10 Oz robots, designed by Naïo Technologies, are currently in use in Canada.

Promising results for agricultural robots

Researchers at the Research and Development Institute for the Agri-Environment (IRDA) have already compared the performance of the Oz to that of three other weeding methods, i.e., the wheel hoe, the weeder on a power-frame tractor and manual weeding.

According to Maryse Leblanc, Agronomist and Researcher at IRDA, the Oz performs as well as the other methods when used on sweet corn. The big difference is in labour, with the Oz requiring 20% less labour than the hoe and 60% less than manual weeding.

These studies suggest that using the Oz is better than using a wheel hoe, but weeding with a tractor is still faster and cheaper.

Researchers at the Sollio Agriculture research farm need to do more testing before the Erion, the Oz or other robots can be widely used on Canadian farms. But if they live up to their potential, these robots could become the solution of choice for even more sustainable agriculture.

Source: The original version of this article was published in Coopérateur magazine.

Photo credit: Stéphanie McDuff