WEAI vs Robot One
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.Solar-assisted laser weeding robot from Almkerk-based Pixelfarming Robotics — high-power laser modules burst weed cells at the two-leaf stage, chemical-free. Two frame sizes (3.20–3.60 m and 5.80–6.20 m working width) with 360°-rotating wheel units for configurable track widths; four 48 V hot-swappable batteries topped up by roof solar panels, optional diesel range extender for 24/7 work. Machines are working on farms in Europe and Canada; delivery 16–20 working weeks by production batch.
Best for: Fine vegetable and specialty growers (spinach, onion, babyleaf, leek, chicory, herbs, tulips) wanting chemical-free, no-till-disturbance weed control with an open, retrainable crop-detection platform.| WEAI Verified 2026-07-17 | Robot One Verified 2026-07-16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Sweden | Netherlands |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | ~20 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 | Solar + battery — four 48 V hot-swappable batteries, roof solar panels; optional diesel range extender for 24/7 hybrid operation |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (three-point-hitch pickup by tractor for road transport) | Is the vehicle (autonomous laser tool carrier) |
| Dimensions | Bed widths 1.50–3.20 m, adjustable row spacing, 5–8 rows; tool/detection height electrically adjustable by 50 cm | Working widths 3.20/3.40/3.60 m (Robot One 3.60) or 5.80/6.00/6.20 m (Robot One 6.20); transport width 1.80–2.20 m |
| Weight | ~1,500–1,700 kg (vendor pages state 1,700 kg; Future Farming reported ~1,500 kg for the new platform) | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Keeps up to ~10 ha weed-free per robot per season | ~10,000 laser shots/h per laser unit; e.g. 300TR with 10 lasers ran 200 m/h in babyleaf at 90% kill rate (vendor); working speed 150–1,000 m/h |
| Max speed | 1 km/h working speed | Working speed 150–1,000 m/h depending on configuration and weed pressure |
| Sensors | AI camera crop/weed detection · GPS-RTK navigation · safety bumpers, e-stops and cameras | Camera-based crop/weed detection · GPS + RTK autonomous navigation · optional bedtop lighting for improved detection |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Sold and serviced via Homburg Holland (owner since 2024) in NL/BE; Ekobot AB channel in Sweden | Quote-based purchase direct or via dealers (NL, DE, UK, Scandinavia, FR, CA); delivery 16–20 working weeks by production batch |
| Ongoing cost | Battery swapping/charging; finger-weeder wear parts; Homburg service, spares, training and warranty | Battery cycling; laser module service; 4G/5G data; optional diesel for range extender |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Onion yield +6% · vendor | Herbicide use Chemical-free laser weeding (exothermic cell burst at two-leaf stage) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | EU-built series machine sold in NL/SE via an established dealer; CE marking not independently verified | CE marked — EU-built series product operating on European farms |
| Machinery Regulation | Swedish-built, Dutch-owned series product; conformity maintained under the EU machinery regime | Dutch-built; sold with a continuous-human-supervision requirement to meet current autonomous-machinery rules |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding in high-value vegetables supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion goals | Chemical-free weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and pesticide-reduction goals; solar assist reduces energy footprint |
"—" 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.