By harnessing artificial intelligence technology, the Ullmanna Newman weeder takes row crop weeding to the next level and this highly precise machine is now available to British and Irish farmers for the first time thanks to J F Hudson.
While robotic weeders are already achieving significant savings in labour costs for many growers, the incorporation of AI gives a machine the ability to not only identify weeds but also remember and constantly improve its accuracy.
“We are already heavily involved with row-crop machinery and not least weeders, but the Newman is particularly exciting because it learns new crops from an initial drive-through and thereafter, by automatically loading 3D images and data to the ‘Cloud’, is able to improve its own performance and speed. Furthermore, every row on a machine can learn from every other row on every other machine by accessing the stored data,” says James.
“The manufacturer points out that weeding can be carried out from the two-leaf stage. The machine’s camera detects the crop plants, and flashlights provide consistent lighting at ground level for operation in varying levels of natural light 24/7.”
Ullmanna maintains these latest machines obviate the need for calibrations and extensive set-up time and are available from one to 16 row variants. With two possible set-ups – within-row weeding, or within-row plus inter-row – it is claimed that the accurate recognition of crop plants within heavily infested fields is no problem. The company also says there is no need for the tractor driver to be highly proficient in AI technology.
