Honeybee vs Vulcan
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Fully autonomous battery-electric laser weeding robot from Caterra, an ETH Zürich spin-off (Glattbrugg, ZH) — deep-learning vision distinguishes crop, weed and soil, then kills weeds with laser pulses to within ~3 mm of the crop, herbicide-free and organic-certified. In pre-order as of mid-2026 after 2025 field pilots (incl. the smaller 300 kg Grasshopper test fleet of 11 units); direct sales only, no dealer network yet.
Best for: Organic and high-value vegetable growers (~10–15+ ha of annual crops) replacing labour-intensive hand weeding with 24/7 in-row laser weeding.US (Salinas, CA) tractor-drawn precision weeder using onboard cameras and computer vision to mechanically remove weeds in-row without herbicide. Original venture-backed maker FarmWise wound down independent operations on 1 April 2025 after raising $65M but failing to reach profitability; three days later, produce processor Taylor Farms (itself a prior FarmWise investor and long-time customer) acquired the FarmWise business outright to keep the Vulcan line running. As of mid-2026 Vulcan is still actively sold and field-supported — not discontinued — through an exclusive dealer partnership with RDO Equipment Co. across the Southwest US.
Best for: Large-scale US vegetable growers (multi-thousand-acre operations, the kind Taylor Farms and Barkley Farms run in Salinas/Yuma) who want to cut hand-weeding crew costs on lettuce, brassica, or tomato beds and can absorb a six-figure implement purchase plus annual service contract.| Honeybee Verified 2026-07-16 | Vulcan Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Switzerland | United States |
| Availability | Pre-order | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — over 24 h per battery set, two sets supplied for 24/7 operation | Tractor-drawn, PTO-driven implement (not self-propelled) |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (self-propelled) | Not disclosed as an HP figure; compatible with standard Category II 3-point-hitch tractors, including John Deere 5-Series (V440 model) and 6-Series tractors |
| Dimensions | Track width configurable 1.50–1.80 m (beds or dams) | Single-bed working width 76-84 in (1.93-2.13 m); three-bed (V380/T380) working width reported as roughly 20-21 ft (6-6.4 m); four-bed V440 in 40 in bed spacing |
| Weight | Not disclosed (smaller Grasshopper pilot unit — 300 kg) | Not disclosed precisely by FarmWise; independent coverage puts the single-bed unit at roughly 3,000 lb (1,360 kg) and the three-bed unit at roughly 7,000 lb (3,175 kg) |
| Min farm size | ~10 ha annual crops (15+ ha ideal) | Not disclosed; documented deployments are on large multi-thousand-acre vegetable operations (e.g. a 10,000-acre Yuma, AZ/Salinas, CA grower), not smallholdings |
| Productivity | 24/7 capable; multiple robots can work the same field (Grasshopper pilot — ~80 m/h) | 25+ acres/day, 3-4+ acres/hour per manufacturer spec sheet; a two-unit Taylor Farms fleet reported covering up to 100 acres in a single week |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | 1.5-4 mph |
| Sensors | RTK-GNSS navigation · cameras with deep-learning crop/weed/soil segmentation | Multiple high-resolution, camera-equipped row units (18 cameras reported on the three-bed unit) plus custom LED lighting for all-lighting and night operation; onboard computer vision and deep-learning models for weed/crop differentiation |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€220,000 | ≈€555,000 (+ ≈€39,000/yr service) — indicative conversion only; Vulcan is not sold or priced in the EU |
| Native price | ≈€220,000 purchase (4-laser) or ≈€65,000/year lease — trade-press figures, not published by Caterra | US$645,000 MSRP for the flagship three-bed 80 in Vulcan V380, plus a reported ≈US$45,000/yr service & support package — trade-press reported figures (Farm Progress, The Packer), not published on the FarmWise site; single-bed and 68 in/40 in models are priced lower but not disclosed |
| Business model | Direct sales / pre-order via Caterra; one-year lease option reported | Direct purchase (not RaaS), sold and field-supported exclusively through RDO Equipment Co. dealers across the Southwestern US since a September 2024 exclusive partnership; John Deere Financing and AgDirect financing offered; FarmWise also runs a "try before you buy" trial program (a free 1-week trial, or paid extended 100/250/500-acre trials with credits toward purchase) |
| Ongoing cost | Electricity; laser and optics service (terms not disclosed) | Reported ≈US$45,000/yr service & support package per unit (trade-press figure); consumable weeding-blade wear parts; software/AI model updates delivered via the onboard edge-learning system |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Hand-weeding labour in organic vegetables Autonomous 24/7 laser weeding, herbicide-free · vendor | Weeding cost, large multi-region vegetable operation ≈US$550,000 reduction in weeding costs in a single season (customer-reported figure, cited by trade press at the time Taylor Farms was a FarmWise customer, before its 2025 acquisition of the company) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — pre-series/pre-order stage | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found; all documented deployments and dealer/service coverage are US-only (Southwest US) |
| Machinery Regulation | Swiss manufacturer — CH follows EU machinery rules via the CH–EU Mutual Recognition Agreement; EU-market conformity not yet demonstrated publicly | Not applicable found — no EU placement on the market; would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if the Vulcan were ever sold into the EU |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding aligns with CAP eco-schemes and CH Absenkpfad (pesticide-reduction) goals | Not applicable — US-based product with no EU sales presence, outside EU CAP eco-schemes |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.