Tertill Weeding Robot
Jun-20-17
The Tertill solar powered weeding robot from Franklin Robotics removes weeds without chemicals.A bit like a Roomba for the yard, the Tertill travels the garden to seek out weeds and cut them down with a small ‘weed-whacker’ thread at its base. The Tertill will treat all small plants as weeds, so intentional plants must first be protected by the provided plant collars. Any plants tall enough to touch the device’s sensor will trigger the Tertill to turn away, and seek weeds elsewhere.
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[SLASHGEAR.COM][FRANKLINROBOTICS.COM]
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Thanks for reporting on Tertill. We just decided to make the robot available globally. You'll find our Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rorymackean/tertill-the-solar-powered-weeding-robot-for-home-g
Posted by Joe Jones on June 22, 2017
In my country Sri Lanka, we have large plantations of tea, rubber, coconut et al. The government is trying to introduce a policy of no chemicals in agriculture. Could the Robot be able to ( after some modifications) work on clearing weeds on a plantation of around 75 hectares?
Posted by Sunil Panabokke on June 27, 2017
The answer is yes but “after some modifications” is the tricky part. Tertill would need to change in several significant ways to handle different spaces. It probably would not be cost effective to charge the robot’s battery using only a solar cell that fits on top of the robot—a external charging system would probably be required. To cover a plantation in a reasonable time it’s probable that many robots would be needed. Finally, commercial operations would probably demand higher efficiency than home gardens meaning that we might need to add an RTK-GPS system to establish the boundary and enable the robot to move in a regular (boustrophedon) path. But I’d love to work on such a robot!
Posted by Joe Jones on June 27, 2017
Thanks for the comment "I'd love to work on such a robot". It encouraged me enormously. The terrain of a plantation is varied with undulating ground, drains and stones pitted in different areas with mountainous areas too. If you could email me Mr. Joe Jones it would be easier to communicate. My email address is <[email protected]> If you could come up with the required robot your name would be written in gold in the history books. I look forward to your reply.
Posted by Sunil Panabokke on June 28, 2017
I will be very happy to buy Tertill when it reaches a version with a spectrometer to distinguish plants and with a feature in the lines of: "cuts all but a selection of species (say edible plants, or plants with edible fruits, with the choice to exclude here thorny plants like Rubus), regardless of their size". This would be an astounding achievement both for the developers of Tertill and Humanity itself. I wish you the best luck if you accept this challenge!
Posted by Anon ymous on October 3, 2017
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Thanks for reporting on Tertill. We just decided to make the robot available globally. You'll find our Kickstarter campaign here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rorymackean/tertill-the-solar-powered-weeding-robot-for-home-g
Posted by Joe Jones on June 22, 2017
In my country Sri Lanka, we have large plantations of tea, rubber, coconut et al. The government is trying to introduce a policy of no chemicals in agriculture. Could the Robot be able to ( after some modifications) work on clearing weeds on a plantation of around 75 hectares?
Posted by Sunil Panabokke on June 27, 2017
The answer is yes but “after some modifications” is the tricky part. Tertill would need to change in several significant ways to handle different spaces. It probably would not be cost effective to charge the robot’s battery using only a solar cell that fits on top of the robot—a external charging system would probably be required. To cover a plantation in a reasonable time it’s probable that many robots would be needed. Finally, commercial operations would probably demand higher efficiency than home gardens meaning that we might need to add an RTK-GPS system to establish the boundary and enable the robot to move in a regular (boustrophedon) path. But I’d love to work on such a robot!
Posted by Joe Jones on June 27, 2017
Thanks for the comment "I'd love to work on such a robot". It encouraged me enormously. The terrain of a plantation is varied with undulating ground, drains and stones pitted in different areas with mountainous areas too. If you could email me Mr. Joe Jones it would be easier to communicate. My email address is <[email protected]> If you could come up with the required robot your name would be written in gold in the history books. I look forward to your reply.
Posted by Sunil Panabokke on June 28, 2017
I will be very happy to buy Tertill when it reaches a version with a spectrometer to distinguish plants and with a feature in the lines of: "cuts all but a selection of species (say edible plants, or plants with edible fruits, with the choice to exclude here thorny plants like Rubus), regardless of their size". This would be an astounding achievement both for the developers of Tertill and Humanity itself. I wish you the best luck if you accept this challenge!
Posted by Anon ymous on October 3, 2017
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