CLAWS vs AX-1
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Concentrated Light Autonomous Weeding and Scouting (CLAWS) robot from UK startup Earth Rover — its patented Lightweeder destroys the meristem of individual weeds with a short pulse of concentrated (non-laser) light, chemical-free and zero-till, on a 100% battery + solar platform with 8 onboard cameras that double as a crop-scouting system. Order book opened Q3 2025; deliveries scheduled from Q1 2026 under a weeding-as-a-service model.
Best for: Organic and chemical-free vegetable and row-crop growers (UK first) who want herbicide-free, zero-till weed control plus per-plant scouting data, paid per hectare rather than as capex.Norwegian ultra-precision weeding robot for open-field vegetables — an AI vision system detects individual weeds and a patented Single-Drop nozzle (SDT) fires one micro-droplet of herbicide directly onto each weed at 6x6mm resolution, cutting herbicide input by a manufacturer-claimed average of 96.6%. Independently tested by Wageningen University & Research at over 99% spray-drift reduction (Dutch DRT99, the system's highest class), and commercially deployed since 2021 across Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, with a 2025 Kubota partnership now expanding EU dealer-network sales.
Best for: Open-field vegetable and root-crop growers (carrots, onions, beets, celery/celeriac, spinach, salads, parsley and similar) in Norway and neighbouring EU markets who still spray herbicide and want to sharply cut volume and drift without switching to purely mechanical or laser weeding.| CLAWS Verified 2026-07-17 | AX-1 Verified 2026-07-18 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | Norway |
| Availability | Pre-order | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-18 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | 100% electric — battery + solar; battery alone runs roughly half a day, solar panels extend to a full day | Electric drive with a small onboard petrol generator (per GOFAR robotics database; not itemized on the manufacturer's own site) |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (lightweight autonomous platform, no tractor needed) | Not required (self-propelled autonomous unit) |
| Dimensions | ~2 m working width; other dimensions not disclosed | Approx. 220 x 215 x 150 cm (third-party listing; not published by Kilter) |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 280 kg dry / 365 kg wet (GOFAR database; distributed to minimise soil compaction) |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | ~1.5 ha per 8 h day demonstrated; ~4 ha/day targeted for the commercial fully autonomous machine, weed burden depending | Not disclosed — third-party estimates conflict (0.33-1 ha/hr) and Kilter does not publish a figure |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Up to 2 km/h (third-party listing; not published by Kilter) |
| Sensors | 8 onboard cameras (stereo imaging) · AI per-plant identification · satellite navigation · FIELD digital-twin scouting software | AI vision with a deep-learning neural network for real-time weed/crop detection at 6x6mm targeting resolution; RTK-GNSS (dual-antenna) and IMU for autonomous navigation (third-party listing) |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | ≈€130,000 |
| Native price | Not disclosed | ≈€130,000 (third-party: Future Farming robot database — Kilter quotes individually) |
| Business model | Weeding as a service, charged per hectare — positioned at parity with tractor-based weeding and below manual weeding cost | Buy — direct from Kilter AS (Langhus, Norway) via a consultative sales process (farm details submitted for a quote; no public price list), or through regional distributors such as Croplands (Australia). A Kubota partnership (announced at Agritechnica 2025) is expanding dealer-network sales in Germany and the Netherlands through 2025-2026. |
| Ongoing cost | Service-model pricing per hectare; no published machine list price | Herbicide/bio-herbicide refills (any crop-registered agrochemical usable in a boom sprayer, e.g. pelargonic acid); Single-Drop nozzle module (SDT-N2) wear parts. Specific service cost figures not disclosed. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Herbicide use Chemical-free concentrated-light weeding, zero-till; controls ALS-resistant weeds (Niab-tested, vendor-reported) · vendor | Spray drift vs. a conventional reference sprayer More than 99% spray-drift reduction — qualifies for DRT99, the highest class in the Dutch drift-reduction classification system · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not verified — pre-series Beta Pioneer machine, UK-focused rollout | No explicit CE-marking statement found on Kilter's public materials; the AX-1 is sold and in active commercial/pilot use in EU member states (Sweden, Germany, Netherlands) and passed independent Dutch DRT99 spray-drift certification (WUR/TCT) |
| Machinery Regulation | Post-Brexit UK machine; EU conformity route not published | Not explicitly addressed by the manufacturer; as an autonomous field-spraying machine placed on EU markets, would fall under the autonomous-machine provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 if formally assessed |
| CAP subsidy | Chemical-free zero-till weeding aligns with CAP eco-scheme goals, but no EU sales channel is evidenced yet | Precision spot-application (manufacturer-claimed ~95-96.6% herbicide reduction) supports CAP eco-scheme and integrated-pest-management / pesticide-reduction objectives |
"—" 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.