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Field Friend (Feldfreund) · photo pending manufacturer approval
Weeding · Fully autonomous

Field Friend (Feldfreund)

Zauberzeug · Germany

Modular AI mini field robot from Zauberzeug (Havixbeck, Münsterland) — a ~100 kg tracked platform under 1 m³ that uses onboard camera AI (the "Zauberzeug Robot Brain" edge-compute unit) to distinguish crops from weeds and mechanically remove them, including deep-rooted weeds. Offered both as a pay-per-hour weeding service (no machine purchase) and as a development platform; trade press reported roughly €20,000 for the machine with tools up to ~€5,000 extra. Winner of the Münsterland Innovation Award 2023/24.

Available in: Germany

At a glance

Best for

Small-scale German vegetable and row-crop growers, market gardens and research users who want camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding without a big capex — pay per hour of weeding done.

Avoid if

You need high daily hectare throughput or an established multi-country dealer network — this is a lightweight mini robot from a small robotics firm, with service presence concentrated in Germany.

Not suitable for

Broadacre cereals, vineyards, orchards, barn work; farms needing a heavy multi-tool carrier.

Specifications

Power sourceBattery-electric; solar panel and backup battery cited for extended operation
Required tractor powerIs the vehicle (compact tracked mini robot)
DimensionsUnder 1 m³ compact footprint (dev-kit chassis: 845 × 670 × 685 mm)
Weight~100 kg (dev-kit chassis 100 kg)
Min farm sizeNot disclosed
ProductivityNot disclosed
Max speedNot disclosed
SensorsCamera AI crop/weed differentiation · GPS-RTK navigation · Zauberzeug Robot Brain edge-AI computer
ConnectivityWi-Fi · Bluetooth · cellular
Compatible toolsModular attachments: mechanical weeding (incl. deep-rooted weeds), with sowing/inspection modules in the modular concept
Configurations
Field Friend (service configuration)Pay-per-hour weeding service — no machine purchase, no maintenance burden on the farm
Feldfreund Dev KitOpen development platform (ROS2 support, public docs at docs.feldfreund.de) for robotics teams

Price & ROI

Price (EUR)~€20,000
Native price~€20,000 (machine, trade-press reported, Nov 2024) + up to ~€5,000 tools; service model priced per hour
Price verifiedNot disclosed
Business modelPay-per-hour weeding service as the headline model; machine and dev-kit purchase also offered
Ongoing costService model includes maintenance; battery cycling and tool wear if machine is owned
MaintenanceHandled by Zauberzeug under the per-hour service model
Payback modelField Friend (Feldfreund) · Zauberzeug
No manufacturer payback figure is published for this machine. The model below uses only your inputs.
Your farm

Farm figures carry across machines; the per-machine rates reset when you open a different listing.

Your result · per year
Labour saved
Inputs saved
Total saved

Payback = machine price ÷ (labour + input savings per year). Every figure above is yours to change. FX is indicative.

Verified outcomes

Each result is a before-to-after figure with a time horizon and a cited source. Independently-verified results are marked separately from vendor-claimed ones.

Herbicide useHerbicide & crop-protectionper season · Zauberzeug Field Friend product page
Camera-guided mechanical single-weed removal, herbicide-free, including deep-rooted weedsVendor-claimedwas: Chemical weeding or manual hoeing in fine vegetable crops
Capex barrier for robot weedingCostadoption decision · Innovationspreis Münsterland 2023/24 laureate profile
Pay-per-hour service — no machine investment, no maintenance risk for the farmVendor-claimedwas: Five-to-six-figure machine purchase typical for weeding robots
Soil compactionSoil healthper pass · Agrartechnik online coverage of the Feldfreund mini robot
~100 kg tracked mini robot — soil-friendly deployment in small-scale plotsVendor-claimedwas: Tractor-based hoeing passes

EU context

CE markingGerman-built machine operating commercially in Germany; CE status not independently verified
EU Machinery RegulationEU-built; conformity route under the EU machinery regime not published
AI Act relevanceLimited-risk; onboard edge-AI vision (Zauberzeug Robot Brain)
CAP subsidyHerbicide-free mechanical weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic goals

Get it

Verified EU dealers
Zauberzeug GmbH direct (service + sales)Havixbeck, Münsterland, Germany
Request a quote →
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Evidence

Sources

Specifications cross-checked against manufacturer documentation; listing last verified 2026-07-17.

Demo
Demo video on fileManufacturer-hosted · last checked 2026-07-17
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Lightweight (500 kg) autonomous mechanical in-row weeding robot from Rotterdam-based Odd.Bot — the "Weader" delta-arm module pulls weeds with 2 mm precision at up to 2 weeds/second (240,000+ weeds/ha/day), running day and night on hot-swappable batteries at ~500 W total draw. Built for fine vegetable crops: carrots, onions, parsnips, red beet, chicory. Production slots sell out roughly a year ahead.

PowerBattery
AutonomyFully autonomous
Output1–12 ha/day per Weader module depending on weed pressure; 240,000+ weeds removed per ha per day
Payback · 40 ha refNo model yet
from €106,950
Verified 2026-07-16