High hopes for laser weeding system after successful trials

Technology that uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to hunt weeds and zap them with a laser has won praise from industry leaders after successful trialling.

A prototype of the Map and Zap^® system, designed by a group of AgResearch scientists and engineers led by Dr Kioumars Ghamkhar, was put through its paces at a recent demonstration at a Canterbury vineyard in front of interested parties.

The system is designed to be used in different agricultural settings, and AgResearch is now looking for potential investors to take this technology to New Zealand and overseas markets.

″It’s not to replace chemicals, but it’s going to reduce the use of chemicals over time,″ Dr Ghamkhar says of the system.

The trained AI can distinguish between different species of weed, so that it targets only those plants that are unwanted. It then ″guides the laser to the weed and kills the weed″.

The Map and Zap^® unit can be fitted to the likes of a tractor or robot to suit the food production system it is operating in, such as a vineyard, an orchard, a field growing  vegetables or pasture.

Wine industry business adviser Heath Stafford, who was among those to see Map and Zap^® in action at the vineyard, says an integrated approach is needed in weed management and technology like this can help ″fill a gap″.

″We can’t get rid of herbicides immediately, if at all, but we do need to embark on a technology pathway that largely eliminates the use of herbicides. If we can prove (Map and Zap^®) here, I think it’s got a fantastic chance of being successful on the global stage.″

Australasia’s Managing director for agritech firm CropX, Eitan Dan, was also impressed by what he saw in person at the vineyard demonstration.

″I think this is the exact thing when you are saying `precision agriculture’. You are dealing precisely with a problem without harming everything around it.″

Map and Zap is potentially a ″great solution″ in the likes of the Australian and the United States markets.

KiwiNet commercialisation programme manager Michelle Polglase says there is a lot of opportunities globally for ″clean technologies″ that address the issue of soil health.