‘It’s a million-dollar machine, but it pays back.’
Farming with lasers will make you healthier — here’s how.
An attachment, powered by artificial intelligence, could save farmers from a seemingly ever-present headache, while producing a higher yield than ever before.
‘[This] is now the cheapest way to control weeds in the vegetable fields.’
This laser farming technique uses powerful 240-watt lasers, high-resolution cameras, Nvidia processors, and nearly two dozen simple LED lights.
The operation is called “laser weeding,” and it comes from company Carbon Robotics, which has developed technology to destroy weeds with lasers while keeping crops intact, seemingly eliminating the need for pesticides that contain harmful chemicals.
“Optimal thermal energy destroys the meristem, stopping regrowth and returning weeds to organic biomass,” the company says on its website.
The machine looks almost like a UFO when in action, with lights flashing and little puffs of smoke coming off the ground. The “LaserWeeder” is slowly pulled over the crops and targets weeds — using AI programming to identify them — and takes them out with a laser.