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AUTONOMOUS LASER BEAM MACHINE MAY BE THE FUTURE OF WEED CONTROL
Nov. 12, 2021
By Chris Bennett, AgWeb.com
Is a laser beam the future of farming?
A raised rectangular vehicle, slightly smaller than a compact sedan, rolls across farmland and shoots concentrated bursts of infrared light into the rows. Audible crackles and pops rise above the furrows, followed by the distinct smell of burning vegetation as weeds smolder beside unscathed crops.
Technology enabling farmers to blast weeds with pinpoint lasers would be a fundamental, transformative moment of change for agriculture, akin to the advent of the gin, tractor, or combine. Paul Mikesell believes the moment has arrived, carried into fields by the Autonomous LaserWeeder.
According to Mikesell, founder and CEO of Carbon Robotics, the unmanned Autonomous LaserWeeder covers 15-20 acres per day and kills 100,000 weeds per hour, delivered from eight lasers beneath its undercarriage. No manual chopping crew, no soil disturbance beyond wheel traction, and no herbicide use-a particularly tantalizing detail for an agriculture industry annually spending $15 billion in weed control chemicals.
"Repeatable, consistent, and easy, all while distinguishing weeds from crops," says Mikesell. "People don't yet realize how effective laser technology is at killing weeds, but it is incredible."
Day or Night
In 2018, Mikesell sought a simple, precise means to kill weeds and knew a laser was ideal from an energy and power perspective. However, concise delivery of a laser-ensuring discretion between weed and plant-required extreme engineering. "We (Carbon Robotics) spent almost three years designing a system that targets weeds on its own while rolling through a field," Mikesell says. "It operates entirely autonomous and separate from any human action."
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