WEAI vs TOR laser weeder
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.First Dutch laser weeding robot, launched June 2025 by Trabotyx (Maarssen) — an autonomous GPS-RTK platform that kills weeds as small as 1 mm with blue diode lasers (adjustable to 200 W each, up to 6 lasers per machine), zero-till and chemical-free. Trained for nine vegetables (carrots, onions, lettuce, cabbage, herbs, spinach, beet, parsnip, chicory) and three flower-bulb crops (lilies, tulips, peonies), with under 2% crop hit rate. The TOR Flex works a 1.5 m width; production is capped at 10 machines for the 2026 season.
Best for: Dutch organic and low-input vegetable and flower-bulb growers who want chemical-free, zero-till in-row weed control — the laser removes weeds mechanical hoes miss without disturbing soil, and the vendor claims ~91% fewer weeds versus conventional practice.| WEAI Verified 2026-07-17 | TOR laser weeder Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric — 2 batteries, ~7 kWh total, manually swapped; 8–12 h operation per day | Battery-electric with solar panel; swappable battery, ~10 h operation at standard weed density |
| Required tractor power | Is the vehicle (three-point-hitch pickup by tractor for road transport) | Is the vehicle (autonomous laser-weeding platform) |
| Dimensions | Bed widths 1.50–3.20 m, adjustable row spacing, 5–8 rows; tool/detection height electrically adjustable by 50 cm | Working width 1.5 m (TOR Flex); 1.8 m and 3.0 m versions announced |
| 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 | ~1.3 ha/day autonomous; ~1 ha per 18.5 h at 360 m/h at standard weed density |
| Max speed | 1 km/h working speed | 360–500 m/h working speed |
| Sensors | AI camera crop/weed detection · GPS-RTK navigation · safety bumpers, e-stops and cameras | Camera AI crop/weed discrimination (crop hit rate <2% on trained crops) · GPS-RTK navigation |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | from €214,000 |
| Native price | Not disclosed | from €214,000 (TOR Flex) + €14,980/yr service, support and maintenance |
| Business model | Sold and serviced via Homburg Holland (owner since 2024) in NL/BE; Ekobot AB channel in Sweden | Direct sale by Trabotyx B.V.; maximum 10 machines available for the 2026 season; Dutch robotics subsidy rounds have applied |
| Ongoing cost | Battery swapping/charging; finger-weeder wear parts; Homburg service, spares, training and warranty | €14,980 per year service, support and maintenance; battery cycling |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Onion yield +6% · vendor | Weed pressure -91% · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | EU-built series machine sold in NL/SE via an established dealer; CE marking not independently verified | Dutch-built machine launched commercially June 2025; CE marking not independently verified |
| Machinery Regulation | Swedish-built, Dutch-owned series product; conformity maintained under the EU machinery regime | EU-built series product; conformity route under the EU machinery regime not published |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free weeding in high-value vegetables supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion goals | Chemical-free zero-till weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic goals; Dutch national robotics subsidies have covered TOR purchases |
"—" 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.