WEAI vs Inter-Plant Weeder SA-AI
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.Tractor-mounted, chemical-free in-row weeder from SPAPPERI N.T. S.R.L. (Città di Castello, Italy; est. 1964). A hydraulic PTO-driven frame (1-4 rows) carries per-row "BOX AI" units — a 3D camera plus AI vision developed with Czech partner Ullmanna — that detect each plant's root and drive independent vertical rotary tillers or fixed knives to weed within the row. Spapperi's own brochure calls it both "SA-IA" and "SA-AI"; the product is marketed via that brochure and lead-gen listings rather than a dedicated page on Spapperi's main site as of this check.
Best for: Commercial vegetable and root-crop growers (Spapperi's own examples include lettuce, cabbage, pumpkin and sugar beet) who already run an appropriately-sized tractor with rear hydraulics and want mechanical in-row weed control without GPS guidance or chemical herbicides.| WEAI Verified 2026-07-17 | Inter-Plant Weeder SA-AI Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Sweden | Italy |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — 2 batteries, ~7 kWh total, manually swapped; 8–12 h operation per day | Tractor PTO-driven hydraulics — dedicated independent hydraulic circuit per weeding element, shared oil tank |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (three-point-hitch pickup by tractor for road transport) | Not disclosed — Spapperi specifies PTO-driven hydraulic transmission but publishes no minimum tractor horsepower figure for the SA-AI |
| Dimensions | Bed widths 1.50–3.20 m, adjustable row spacing, 5–8 rows; tool/detection height electrically adjustable by 50 cm | Not disclosed — modular frame (1-4 rows, single or double planting-row spacing); overall width/length vary by configuration |
| 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 — no hectare threshold published; the multi-row tractor-mounted design targets commercial vegetable/root-crop operations |
| Productivity | Keeps up to ~10 ha weed-free per robot per season | 4,500-8,500 plants/hour per row, depending on in-plant spacing |
| Max speed | 1 km/h working speed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | AI camera crop/weed detection · GPS-RTK navigation · safety bumpers, e-stops and cameras | 3D camera plus integrated lighting per weeding element ("BOX AI", AI vision by Ullmanna) for day/night plant-root detection; anti-collision sensors on each element arm; central "Power Box" CPU with GPS and internet connectivity |
| 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 | Buy — tractor-mounted implement sold direct from Spapperi NT S.r.l. (Città di Castello, Italy); AI vision developed with Czech partner Ullmanna, integrated as Spapperi's "BOX AI - Ullmanna System" |
| Ongoing cost | Battery swapping/charging; finger-weeder wear parts; Homburg service, spares, training and warranty | Interchangeable rotary-tiller/knife wear parts; hydraulic oil and PTO-pump upkeep; AI crop models update automatically over the internet (Spapperi states a new crop can be added in about 6 hours) |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Onion yield +6% · vendor | In-row weeding labour Vendor testimonial states each row unit replaces about 10 manual workers · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | EU-built series machine sold in NL/SE via an established dealer; CE marking not independently verified | Not disclosed — no CE-marking statement found for the SA-AI on Spapperi's site, its brochure, or the dealer-contact page |
| Machinery Regulation | Swedish-built, Dutch-owned series product; conformity maintained under the EU machinery regime | Not disclosed — would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 as a mounted implement with AI-driven functions if placed on the EU market; no explicit compliance statement found |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding in high-value vegetables supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion goals | Not disclosed — mechanical/AI in-row weeding removes herbicide use, which is relevant to CAP eco-schemes rewarding reduced chemical inputs, but Spapperi does not tie the SA-AI to CAP explicitly |
"—" 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.