News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Farming robot kills 100k weeds per hour with lasers by Qworg on Monday April 26, 2021 @12:47PM (#26944708)
Depends on the laser(s) and the weeds in question. Deep rooted weeds require different IR/UV than broadleaf.

They actually kill them because they cook the root. That's ALSO why it has to be autonomous - it can't be done at a run.

We worked on this when I was at MTD, but I think they abandoned the project after I left.

Re:Farming robot kills 100k weeds per hour with lasers by chris_va on Monday April 26, 2021 @04:00PM (#26947296)
Wouldn't a microwave be easier (power, speed, penetration depth, etc)?
Re:Farming robot kills 100k weeds per hour with lasers by Qworg on Monday April 26, 2021 @06:48PM (#26949298)
Depends on the wavelength/absorption. The goal was to attack both the root and the leaf. There are more mechanical methods using steam + a spike that work very well too.

Here's a very (terribly) high level technology overview from the company we were working with: https://g-neighbor.com/gni-technology/

> The reason a plant is green is because it reflects green light and for photosynthesis a plant uses blue light. Overloading the blue frequency range disrupts the enzymes in the photosynthetic process, which cuts off the food supply to the plant and it dies. Some herbicides overload the metabolic system of the plant and makes the weed burn from the inside out. I thought that overloading the photosynthetic system would maybe do the same thing.

Re:Farming robot kills 100k weeds per hour with lasers by gdubs on Monday April 26, 2021 @12:57PM (#26944853)
That’s very cool. Still working on farm space projects?
Re:Farming robot kills 100k weeds per hour with lasers by Qworg on Monday April 26, 2021 @02:28PM (#26946108)
Not at this time - founded a fintech company instead.

I do miss hardware though!