WEAI vs Oz
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Swedish battery-electric weeding robot purpose-built for onion beds (and extending to carrots and beetroot) — AI vision plus GPS-RTK guide finger weeders that pull up to five weeds per second per unit across 5–8 rows on beds 1.50–3.20 m wide. The ~1,500–1,700 kg platform runs 8–12 h per day on ~7 kWh of swappable batteries at 1 km/h and can be lifted on a tractor three-point hitch for road transport. Dutch dealer Homburg Holland became importer (NL/BE), then acquired Ekobot outright in 2024, planning 20 machines for the Netherlands and Sweden in 2025.
Best for: Onion growers (and increasingly carrot/red-beet growers) in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden with ~10 ha of beds per robot who want season-long autonomous mechanical in-row weed control with established dealer support via Homburg.Compact electric weeding robot for vegetable beds and small market gardens.
Best for: Diversified market gardens under 5 ha wanting to cut hand-weeding without herbicide.| WEAI Verified 2026-07-17 | Oz Verified 2026-07-16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Sweden | France |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | ~12 wk |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-16 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — 2 batteries, ~7 kWh total, manually swapped; 8–12 h operation per day | Electric · swappable Li-ion, 8 h runtime |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (three-point-hitch pickup by tractor for road transport) | Not required (self-propelled) |
| Dimensions | Bed widths 1.50–3.20 m, adjustable row spacing, 5–8 rows; tool/detection height electrically adjustable by 50 cm | 1.30 × 1.20 × 1.15 m |
| Weight | ~1,500–1,700 kg (vendor pages state 1,700 kg; Future Farming reported ~1,500 kg for the new platform) | 150 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | 0.5 ha |
| Productivity | Keeps up to ~10 ha weed-free per robot per season | Up to 1 ha/day |
| Max speed | 1 km/h working speed | 0.8 km/h |
| Sensors | AI camera crop/weed detection · GPS-RTK navigation · safety bumpers, e-stops and cameras | RTK-GPS · LiDAR · stereo camera · bump guards |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | €28,000 |
| Native price | Not disclosed | €28,000 |
| Business model | Sold and serviced via Homburg Holland (owner since 2024) in NL/BE; Ekobot AB channel in Sweden | Buy outright · lease from €640/mo |
| Ongoing cost | Battery swapping/charging; finger-weeder wear parts; Homburg service, spares, training and warranty | €900/yr service contract + consumables |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Onion yield +6% · vendor | Hand-weeding labour −86% · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | EU-built series machine sold in NL/SE via an established dealer; CE marking not independently verified | CE marked (2023) |
| Machinery Regulation | Swedish-built, Dutch-owned series product; conformity maintained under the EU machinery regime | Compliant — Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding in high-value vegetables supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion goals | Eligible under CAP eco-scheme for precision weeding |
"—" 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.