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WORT

 Weed Optical Recognition & Target
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OK, farm machinery is getting sophisticated, and now video Optical Weed Recognition technology is being used to allow squirts of weed killer to be targeted precisely on the weeds within an otherwise healthy crop. For example so called "Volunteer Potatoe plants" plague crops planted where once were potatoes, so you need to target the "volunteer" plants and other weeds, but avoid spraying the healthy wanted crop..

So why not adapt this concept to work on Grass with a Robot lawn mower as the vehicle that carries the WORT system.. You top up the WORT with grass weed killer, and train the WORT system to recognise healthy grass, and target weeds that don't look like grass? Lawn mower wanders round, keeping gras trim, and weeds get targeted.

—franklydude, Jul 19 2009

similar'ish: recognizes colour Dandelions-B-Gone_20Garden_20Gnomes
[FlyingToaster, Jul 19 2009]

[link]






       I'm not a big fan of herbicides, but there's something similar in a weed whacker version in Larry Niven's "Destiny's Road". It's a good read, I recommend it.   

       Although I did think this was going to be about home brewed beer.
—normzone, Jul 19 2009
   

       No such thing as a weed, generally. Maybe sun spurge.
—nineteenthly, Jul 19 2009
   

       Presumably this does away with the need for weed killer alltogether, as a miniature robot arm can reach out and pinch off the weed as soon as the cam spots it.   

       The device can be tractor size, with lots of cams at the front like a compound eye, and an array of perhaps 50 little arms, so it can roll along at a good speed, totally de-weeding the area as it goes.   

       This should certify as 100% organic as well
—pocmloc, Jul 20 2009
   

       //keeping gras trim//
Oxymoron?
—coprocephalous, Jul 20 2009
   

       pocmloc, weeds grow back fast enough where that wouldn't be practical as you'd be repeatedly compacting the soil.
—RayfordSteele, Jul 22 2009
   

       OK so each one is tiny then, the size of a R/C car?
—pocmloc, Jul 22 2009
   
      
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