Alley Weeder, the alley rover
The first rover planned for the build: a small tracked machine that drives every alley and reaches to the middle of each strawberry mat, with a swappable oscillating diamond head.
Design model with the diamond cartridge fitted. Drag to inspect the frame-mounted arm, hull cameras and tracks. Hardware and field performance remain unproven.
Every alley, to the middle of each mat
Alley Weeder drives every alley, including the outside edges, and works the half-mat on each side. Its 350 + 350 mm arm reaches to the middle of each mat; the next alley serves the other half. Pipe alleys wait for people to move the pipe, then get their own pass before it is reset. The rover never drives over a pipe.
The arm stands on frame cross-members and an aluminium plate. Two fixed hull cameras let it look for weeds while driving, stopping at targets. A camera on the arm confirms each target and the nearby crop before the head enters the soil. Joint encoders check that the arm follows its commanded position.
A diamond that rocks across the weed
The default head is a 60 × 15 mm oscillating diamond. A motor and crank rock it about its vertical shaft through ±25°, a trial setting. It lowers onto a weed, floats under its own weight to slice 10–20 mm below the surface, then lifts. The cut is aimed away from crop crowns.
Reversing the stroke limits continuous winding of straw and runners and reduces average twist over a symmetric cycle. It still produces alternating loads, and a one-sided snag can load the arm severely. A mechanical output slip clutch limits shaft torque; slip sensing stops the tool and lifts it. The proposed 2 N·m ceiling is an estimate to calibrate on the bench, lowered if ground grip requires it. The clutch does not limit every sideways load.
One interface, swappable heads
The auger remains the alternative cartridge, swapped by hand on the same tool interface. It is intended to lift a soil-and-root core. The diamond targets annual seedlings; cockle needs the auger and a crown-recovery check, or hand removal. Sheep sorrel is refused. Neither cartridge has proved weed control in the field.
Crop guards still apply. A provisional 80 mm crown-to-cutting-edge clearance, plus positioning allowance, leaves weeds for hand work when the mat fills in. Tool loads, depth, clutch release, joint holding, runner entanglement and weed regrowth all need physical tests.
The first build, in stages
Alley Weeder is the first rover planned for this winter, including the spring camera and weed-image collection job. Row Weeder remains a paper design. Bench-test the tool and printed track strip first, then build the chassis and cameras, and finally qualify the frame-mounted arm. The camera job can be useful before weeding is proven.
The priced parts list totals US $1,426.62, a lower bound from the auger baseline, dated 2026-10-05. It excludes required unpriced parts, diamond and clutch fabrication, machining, shipping and tax. Owned equipment is counted at no additional cash cost. This is not a complete build quotation.
Watch it work · See how Alley Weeder works with Scout and Row Weeder.
Design sources: machine and build sequence, current tool and bench tests, priced parts list and exclusions, and simulation assumptions. Dimensions are design values; trial settings and performance estimates need measurement.