Question about this tech is, does it really kill weeds, or just defoliate them? Like, is this laser strong enough to get down to the roots, which are often very deep with weeds?
If not, I’m wondering why lasers instead of something mechanical that can corkscrew down and tear up the entire root?
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.
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.
I do miss hardware though!
Question from a non-farmer: if it were cost-effective to defoliate weeds once per day, would that be good enough? I.e., I would think that totally prevents the weeds from thriving.
But some weeds, like invasive blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest, are extremely resilient and will shrug off defoliation.
> But some weeds, like invasive blackberries here in the Pacific Northwest, are extremely resilient and will shrug off defoliation.
How does that work? I thought all plants (by definition?) need photosynthesis to stay alive in non-dormant states.
Do blackberry plants have some way of getting energy other than photosynthesis in their leaves?
There are parasitic plants that don't photosynthesize at all, like the Monotropoideae and Rafflesiaceae.
Among photosynthesizing plants, rhubarb can be "forced" (grown in complete darkness to reduce bitterness and get an earlier harvest), and potatoes can sprout if left in the pantry for too long.
How long will weeds live if they continuously get their foiliage removed? How about when part of the root (closest to the surface) is damaged/burned as well?
I really don't know, but I imagine that if such a robot went out into the field many or most days, there wouldn't be much of an issue. The weeds would continually get weaker.
Fixing a blue steel corkscrew seems easier than debugging a laser.
Realistically, a farmer would swap out the part.
Any actual work on the laser is more likely to be done by a trained professional, if anything to cut down on accidental burns.
I thought weed was the cash crop. /s
https://www.forestry-suppliers.com/product_pages/products.ph...
I use it for everything, from digging up plants, to leveraging boulders, to actually maintaining trails.