How to Advance Weed Management with Robotics

Precision sprayers have already hit the market, making chemical use more efficient than traditional broadcast methods. Specialized equipment is the next step to the future of automated farming. 

“The opportunity with having something autonomous you can engage with through a mobile app is that you can optimize your time as well,” said Taylor Wetli, commercial and business development manager for Solinftec. “Sometimes, a farmer has to pick between hauling grain or spraying, and somehow they have to get everything done. There’s a lot of efficiency gains when you have something there autonomously connected with the field, performing those pieces.”

Solinftec Solix

Solinftec’s Solix is an autonomous, solar-powered scouting and sprayer robot. The robot has a 40-foot boom, with eight cameras controlling three nozzles each. Solix uses targeted application, powered by Solinftec’s proprietary artificial intelligence (AI), using the cameras to identify weeds and only spray where detected. As Solix travels through fields, it’s also scouting — understanding plant emergence, generating a weed map, and monitoring crop health. 

“Solix is essentially able to run continuously, maintaining the field throughout the entire season,” Wetli said. “Instead of going over that field with a larger sprayer in a two-pass program, you can go across the field multiple times roughly every 7–10 days with the Solix. When you do that, you’re able to get the weeds when they’re smaller.”

Spraying weeds at an earlier stage, combined with the vision-based spraying, enables farmers to use significantly less product than traditional broadcast spraying. The Solix has a maximum height of around 5½ feet, intended to control weeds until the crop canopies the soil, preventing more weed growth..  

The Solinftec Solix has a 40-gallon tank, and can cover about 4–5 acres per hour, up to 50 acres total per day. Using a 7–10 day rotation, a single Solix unit could maintain around 500 acres, according to Wetli.

“Instead of having one big sprayer, you’re having a conversation about maybe having three robots,” Wetli said. 

Solix is controlled through Solinftec’s app or webpage, where operators can monitor tank levels and speeds while the machine is in the field, as well as view the scouting reports it generates. 

Solinftec’s Solix is capable of working in corn, soybean, wheat, cotton, and specialty crop fields. A Solix unit starts at $50,000. Solinftec is also developing an autonomous docking station for automatic tank refills in the field. For more information, visit solinftec.com/en-us.

Agri Spray Drones

The Agri Spray EAVision J100 drone is capable of spraying, spreading, lifting, and surveying, with a maximum airspeed of 45.27 feet per second. The drone makes use of light detection and ranging technology to avoid obstacles as it flies through uneven terrain. Operators can designate paths for the drone to follow, automating the process once it’s delivered to the field. 

The J100 holds up to 15.85 gallons of product, and is capable of spraying at a width of 36 feet. The CCMS nozzle provides fine, uniform atomization with adjustable droplet sizes between 10 microns and 620 microns, at up to 6.3 gallons per minute. At top speed, the drones can cover 60 acres per hour, at 2 gallons per acre. 

The drone is capable of supporting sling loads up to 132 pounds. This includes a 110-pound spreader tank, capable of application at 243 pounds per minute. 

To qualify to fly a drone over 55 pounds — like the EAVision J100 — operators will need the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Special Authority for Certain Unmanned Aircraft Systems (U.S.C. 44807). Pilots must be at least 16 years old; able to read, speak, write, and understand English; be in sound physical and mental condition; and pass the initial aeronautical knowledge exam. The drone must also be registered with the FAA to receive the Part 137 certification. To ease the process, Agri Spray Drones will petition the FAA for the much of the required paperwork on behalf of the pilot and provide them with the required manuals.

For more information, visit agrispraydrones.com.