Honeybee vs Vitirover
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.French solar-powered micro-mower for vineyards, orchards and agrivoltaic sites — a 23–27 kg swarm robot that grazes vegetation at ~500 m/h, up to 16 h per day on sun and Li-ion. One 'shepherd' operator manages up to 50 robots from the Viticloud dashboard; born at Château Canon La Gaffelière in Saint-Émilion and sold outright or as Robot-as-a-Service.
Best for: Vignerons and orchardists wanting chemical-free under-vine and inter-row vegetation control with near-zero energy cost, especially as a managed fleet across parcels or solar farms.| Honeybee Verified 2026-07-16 | Vitirover Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Switzerland | France |
| Availability | Pre-order | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — over 24 h per battery set, two sets supplied for 24/7 operation | Solar + Li-ion · integrated panel gives 5–6 h/day; optional dock charges 8 h for 16 h work |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (self-propelled) | Not required (self-propelled) |
| Dimensions | Track width configurable 1.50–1.80 m (beds or dams) | 75 × 40 × 30 cm |
| Weight | Not disclosed (smaller Grasshopper pilot unit — 300 kg) | 23–27 kg |
| 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) | ~500 m/h; ~1 ha per robot per ~10 days; fleets scale to 50 robots per operator |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | <1 km/h |
| Sensors | RTK-GNSS navigation · cameras with deep-learning crop/weed/soil segmentation | Multi-constellation GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo) with Trimble MB-Two RTK/PPP · inertial sensors · dual RGB cameras |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€220,000 | ~€10,000 |
| Native price | ≈€220,000 purchase (4-laser) or ≈€65,000/year lease — trade-press figures, not published by Caterra | ~€10,000 incl. charging station |
| Business model | Direct sales / pre-order via Caterra; one-year lease option reported | Buy, or VAAS annual service subscription with fleet shepherding |
| Ongoing cost | Electricity; laser and optics service (terms not disclosed) | VAAS: €2,100–€3,100 per robot per year; blades and wear parts if owned |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Hand-weeding labour in organic vegetables Autonomous 24/7 laser weeding, herbicide-free · vendor | Herbicide use for under-vine vegetation control Continuous chemical-free robotic grazing at 5–10 cm cut height · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — pre-series/pre-order stage | CE status not published; French manufacturer selling commercially in the EU |
| Machinery Regulation | Swiss manufacturer — CH follows EU machinery rules via the CH–EU Mutual Recognition Agreement; EU-market conformity not yet demonstrated publicly | Placed on the EU market by Vitirover SAS; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding aligns with CAP eco-schemes and CH Absenkpfad (pesticide-reduction) goals | Herbicide-free mechanical vegetation control supports CAP eco-scheme and herbicide-reduction 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.