Honeybee vs Robocrop InRow Weeder
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.Long-established tractor-mounted vision-guided weeder — video image analysis at 30 frames/second locates each individual plant and steers rotating in-row weeding discs around it, killing weeds between rows AND between plants within the row to ~8 mm of the stem. The 2025-season Robocrop AI upgrade adds green-on-green recognition fusing colour, infrared and depth imaging. Like One Smart Spray, this is AI-driven intelligence on a conventional tractor implement, not a standalone robot.
Best for: Transplanted vegetable growers (lettuce, brassicas, celery) and sugar-beet farms replacing hand-weeding gangs or herbicides with camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding on their existing tractor.| Honeybee Verified 2026-07-16 | Robocrop InRow Weeder Verified 2026-07-16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Switzerland | United Kingdom |
| Availability | Pre-order | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-16 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — over 24 h per battery set, two sets supplied for 24/7 operation | Tractor-mounted implement, hydraulic drive |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (self-propelled) | Conventional tractor required; hydraulic side-shift steering of the toolbar |
| Dimensions | Track width configurable 1.50–1.80 m (beds or dams) | Working widths up to 6 m / up to 20 rows supplied; larger builds available |
| Weight | Not disclosed (smaller Grasshopper pilot unit — 300 kg) | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | ~10 ha annual crops (15+ ha ideal) | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | 24/7 capable; multiple robots can work the same field (Grasshopper pilot — ~80 m/h) | Forward speeds up to 6 plant spacings per second |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Crop-spacing dependent (up to 6 plants/s per row) |
| Sensors | RTK-GNSS navigation · cameras with deep-learning crop/weed/soil segmentation | Robocrop video image analysis at 30 fps · Robocrop AI (2025) adds colour + infrared + depth green-on-green plant recognition · 10.1" in-cab terminal |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€220,000 | Not disclosed |
| Native price | ≈€220,000 purchase (4-laser) or ≈€65,000/year lease — trade-press figures, not published by Caterra | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Direct sales / pre-order via Caterra; one-year lease option reported | Buy via Garford and its UK/international dealer network |
| Ongoing cost | Electricity; laser and optics service (terms not disclosed) | Wear metal (discs, blades), camera care; no software subscription published |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Hand-weeding labour in organic vegetables Autonomous 24/7 laser weeding, herbicide-free · vendor | In-row weeding precision Mechanical weeding to ~8 mm from the plant stem · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — pre-series/pre-order stage | CE marked for EU sales; UKCA for the UK market |
| Machinery Regulation | Swiss manufacturer — CH follows EU machinery rules via the CH–EU Mutual Recognition Agreement; EU-market conformity not yet demonstrated publicly | Tractor-mounted implement under the EU machinery regime; operator remains in control |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding aligns with CAP eco-schemes and CH Absenkpfad (pesticide-reduction) goals | Mechanical/herbicide-free weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion measures |
"—" 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.