Precision spray technology WEEDit arrives in Brazil

The company Smart Sensing has introduced in Brazil the Dutch technology WEEDit, which identifies weeds and engages in precision spraying of plants to save them from being damaged.

According to the maker, the system is capable of identifying weeds and applying the product where it is necessary with the intention of generating savings for the farmer and minimizing the environmental impact.

It is an exclusive system based on the detection of chlorophyll with ultrafast solenoid valves that can detect quickly and precisely even the smallest plants, doing the applications at high speed. The sensors take a reading of the area by beaming a red light of high intensity to detect the undesired live plants.

According to Smart Sensing, a set of sensors does the reading with a frequency of 40k times per second (each one covering one meter of width). The chlorophyll of the plants respond to the red light beamed from the sensor by absorbing it and in turn issues NIR light through the fluorescence, thus enabling the emission to be detected by the sensors.

"The WEEDit sensors identify even the smallest emissions of fluorescence of chlorophyll. A set of nozzles are then aimed at the identifying plant, which spray the right amount according to the size of the plant. Each nozzle is capable of acting in one millisecond with each sensor capable of activating five nozzles independently, generating a spray of 20 centimeters from each nozzle," explained the manufacturer.