Research
A team of Cornell undergraduates won the grand prize at The Farm Robotics Challenge with an autonomous robot that kills weeds using electricity, beating 95 other teams. The robot travels through vineyards or orchards without a human operator, zapping weeds with a small amount of electricity, saving labor and energy and preventing crop loss without herbicides.
Led by Andrew James, an agricultural sciences major, the team of agricultural specialists and engineers studied existing electrical weeding technology, developed their own low-energy system, and built a working prototype over four months. The project required many late nights, according to team member Natalia Kurz.
The robot can travel through a vineyard or orchard without a human operator, zapping weeds with a small amount of electricity, saving labor and energy and preventing crop loss, without the use of herbicides.
Using the $50,000 grand prize, James and his co-founders are forming a company called Rootline Robotics to continue development. Agricultural technology firm Reservoir sponsored the award and will host the startup at its incubator in Sonoma, California. James expressed interest in building a startup in the ag-robotics space, noting the support from industry stakeholders.
Source: Robohub