Carbon Robotics' LaserWeeder Provides Autonomous Weed Elimination

With a background in deep tech, computer vision, deep learning, AI, and neural network vision models, Paul Mikesell set out to create a company that could manufacture agricultural tools to empower farmers to operate more efficiently.

“I decided I wanted to get into something more real-world and knew a couple of farmers and started talking about what their needs were and realized quickly that weed control was a huge problem,” said Mikesell. “I could see right away how recent advancements in computer technology would allow the [automation] of these kinds of tasks. We hit upon lasers as the solution.”

Paul Mikesell, Founder and CEO, Carbon Robotics

In 2018, Seattle-based Carbon Robotics was born, bringing to market the revolutionary, high-precision Autonomous LaserWeeder in April of 2021. The LaserWeeder leverages sophisticated AI technology to improve crop quality, provide safer working conditions for farmers, reduce overall costs associated with modern farming, and create sustainable paths to regenerative and organic farming.

“I could see right away how recent advancements in computer technology would allow the [automation] of these kinds of tasks. We hit upon lasers as the solution.” - Paul Mikesell

“As the labor market gets tight, and it’s harder to find migrant workers, and over time minimum wages increase ... we’re able to give farmers a bit of a break from having to search and find and manage those labor contacts and issues,” Mikesell said. “Additionally, with the restrictions in herbicide usage and the rise of herbicide resistance in the weed population, we feel pretty good about where we’ve shown up in the market with this solution.” 

Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder

An updated version of the LaserWeeder was introduced in February of 2022. It is made up of an autonomous, pull-behind robot that seamlessly attaches to the back of tractors and provides a cost-effective weed control solution for large-scale specialty row crops.

The updated LaserWeeder boasts 30 industrial CO₂ lasers, more than triple the amount of lasers in Carbon Robotics’ self-driving Autonomous LaserWeeder. The robot is able to instantly identify, target, and eliminate weeds using thermal energy, while rolling, day or night, in virtually all weather conditions, and with millimeter accuracy.

Weed shot by LaserWeeder with millimeter accuracy

“As the labor market gets tight, and it’s harder to find migrant workers, and over time minimum wages increase ... we’re able to give farmers a bit of a break from having to search and find and manage those labor contacts and issues.” - Paul Mikesell

“It’s 20 feet long, and the computer vision model allows it to target these weeds automatically in the field as the tractor pulls it through the field,” Mikesell said. “This is what we’re focusing on in the immediate future.”

Carbon Robotics has grown over its first four years thanks a great deal to word of mouth, with farmers telling other farmers about the success they’ve had using the LaserWeeder. The industry as a whole took notice—as videos of the process on social media have resulted in interest from organic farmers everywhere.

Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder

The company has a ton of demand to fulfill with its LaserWeeder product, so most of its current efforts are going towards manufacturing, volume, and throughput, which includes things like managing the supply chain.

The robot is able to instantly identify, target, and eliminate weeds using thermal energy, while rolling, day or night, in virtually all weather conditions, and with millimeter accuracy.

“We’re also looking into geographic expansion, so we’re doing some more stuff in larger regions in the US and starting to work in Canada,” Mikesell said. “We also anticipate moving into Europe.”

Competition wise, there’s not another company offering a similar laser product on the market. There are a number of other companies doing automated versions of cultivators, and Mikesell is pleased to see more innovation hitting the field, but his LaserWeeder has a number of benefits.

Paul Mikesell, Founder and CEO, Carbon Robotics

“There’s been a huge number of benefits for us not tearing up the soil or not relying on too much cultivation,” Mikesell said.

The biggest challenges for Carbon Robotics today are just supply chain issues and meeting the demand.

14 days after LaserWeeding (left) versus 14 days after no LaserWeeding (right)

“It’s really kind of a long hangover from the COVID supply chain shutdown, but it doesn’t seem to be getting better,” Mikesell said. “Things that were put into place six months ago that we thought would be rainy-day careful planning that we didn’t think we need to utilize, it turns out we needed to use all of that stuff. That is our biggest challenge and probably will be for the next 18 months.”

“There’s been a huge number of benefits for us not tearing up the soil or not relying on too much cultivation.” - Paul Mikesell

Carbon Robotics’ main customer base is made up of West Coast growers of specialty crops and vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, onions, spinach, and leafy greens that are planted in rows.

“We are a big hit with organic folks because they don’t have great herbicide options,” Mikesell said. “We’ve also done a lot with conventional growers in those areas. And we have started to do some organic soy.”

The main selling points of the LaserWeeder are that it can reduce or eliminate the need for labor for weed pulling, and it's more accurate and complete.

“We kill the weeds when they’re very small—smaller than people can see,” Mikesell said. “And because we’re killing them when they are small, the root system of the weeds has not had a chance to steal nutrients from the crops or get entangled with the root systems of the crops. The accuracy is far beyond anything else.”