The fleet
Scout maps, Base plans, and Row Weeder and Alley Weeder confirm each target with their own cameras. One shared record follows a weed through the work.
Watch the fleet work — run Scout and both rovers live, with Base reserving their routes through a full 2.5-acre block.
Row Weeder
Straddles the row; spinning heads and a proposed spot cup.
Alley Weeder
Drives every alley, reaching to the middle of each mat with a swappable diamond head.
Scout
Photographs the block and makes a map of places to inspect.
Base
One RTK datum, mission planning, a weed ledger and the dock.
ATV sprayer
An operator-driven boom retrofit using a reviewed weed map. Planned.
Tractor kit
A lightbar and as-applied map for any tractor or ATV. Planned.
Map, assign, confirm, record
- Scout maps. The quadcopter photographs the block and produces candidate weed locations.
- Base plans. Annuals go to Alley Weeder’s oscillating diamond; cockle needs its swappable auger or hand removal; clover, sorrel and smartweed go to Row Weeder’s spot cup; the rest go to hand work.
- The rovers confirm. Assignments are places to inspect, never permission to fire. Each rover uses its own camera and crop guards. Sorrel still requires Row Weeder’s operator override; smartweed is suppression, and cockle core recovery needs a hand check.
- One ledger follows every weed. Sightings, attempted work, treatment and hand flags stay together whichever machine saw it. Recording a spray does not mean the weed is dead.
The first rover build
Alley Weeder comes first: chassis and cameras for spring image collection, followed by a bench-qualified arm and tool. Row Weeder remains a paper design. The shorter frame-mounted arm serves half a mat from every alley. Two fixed hull cameras find targets while driving; the arm camera confirms before plunging.
The default diamond rocks on a crank with an output slip clutch. Oscillation reduces continuous winding and average twist, but snag loads and actual weed control still need tests. The auger is a manually swappable alternative. Pipe-facing half-mats get a separate pass after people move the pipe; moving and resetting it takes human time.
What the simulations can tell us
Scout supplies places to inspect. It cannot authorize tool use. The live simulations use the current controllers, crop guards and field presets, including charging and pipe-work scheduling. Detection, soil grip, tool effectiveness and timing are estimates, not measured field performance. Earlier whole-mat, stop-and-scan comparisons do not describe this revision.
Read the current tool comparisons and assumptions and the Alley Weeder build notes and parts-list lower bound.
Run Row Weeder’s existing live simulation to see its local controller work through a demo field. Or watch the Alley Weeder work on its own.