Robocrop InRow Weeder vs RoamIO-HCW
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Long-established tractor-mounted vision-guided weeder — video image analysis at 30 frames/second locates each individual plant and steers rotating in-row weeding discs around it, killing weeds between rows AND between plants within the row to ~8 mm of the stem. The 2025-season Robocrop AI upgrade adds green-on-green recognition fusing colour, infrared and depth imaging. Like One Smart Spray, this is AI-driven intelligence on a conventional tractor implement, not a standalone robot.
Best for: Transplanted vegetable growers (lettuce, brassicas, celery) and sugar-beet farms replacing hand-weeding gangs or herbicides with camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding on their existing tractor.Canadian (Oshawa, Ontario) multipurpose autonomous field robot — Korechi's largest and first wheeled RoamIO model, built to seed, weed, cultivate, mow, soil-sample, data-log and transport across an adjustable-width chassis. Battery-electric with cm-level RTK GNSS navigation and dual AI-camera obstacle detection; Korechi's own product page states it is "now taking orders." Pricing is not published by Korechi itself — an independent buyer's guide lists a starting price of roughly $80,000 (final price varies by configuration) — and the company currently serves only the US and Canadian markets.
Best for: Vegetable and horticultural growers in the US or Canada wanting one multipurpose autonomous tool-carrier (seeding, weeding, cultivating, mowing, transport, data-logging) from a small Ontario-based robotics maker that is actively taking orders.| Robocrop InRow Weeder Verified 2026-07-16 | RoamIO-HCW Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | AI-assisted | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | Canada |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Tractor-mounted implement, hydraulic drive | Battery-electric — 20 kWh "safe lithium chemistry" pack rated 10+ years of life; optional extra battery packs or a petrol/diesel generator for extended range |
| Required tractor power | Conventional tractor required; hydraulic side-shift steering of the toolbar | Not required (self-propelled); 13.4 hp (10 kW) brushless DC motors, peak 22.2 hp (16.6 kW) |
| Dimensions | Working widths up to 6 m / up to 20 rows supplied; larger builds available | 74" x 70.5"–83.5" x 64" (1.87 m x 1.79–2.12 m x 1.62 m, L x W x H); width adjustable 47.5"–75.5" (1.2–1.91 m) in 2" increments |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 1,300 lb (590 kg) |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Forward speeds up to 6 plant spacings per second | Not disclosed |
| Max speed | Crop-spacing dependent (up to 6 plants/s per row) | 4 mph (6.5 kph) |
| Sensors | Robocrop video image analysis at 30 fps · Robocrop AI (2025) adds colour + infrared + depth green-on-green plant recognition · 10.1" in-cab terminal | Multi-constellation multi-band GNSS RTK with dual antenna for cm-level positioning; dual AI-powered cameras for obstacle/collision detection; physical and remote e-stop |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Buy via Garford and its UK/international dealer network | Buy, direct from Korechi Innovations (Oshawa, ON) — the RoamIO-HCW product page states "WE ARE NOW TAKING ORDERS"; contact required for a configuration-specific quote/demo, no published dealer network. Korechi publishes no price; Future Farming's buyer's guide listed a US$80,000 starting figure at a Nov-2023 exchange rate — a dated third-party data point, not a verified current price. |
| Ongoing cost | Wear metal (discs, blades), camera care; no software subscription published | Not disclosed in detail. Optional paid add-ons found: extra battery packs, a petrol/diesel generator for range extension, an auxiliary data-logging computer, LED floodlights, and structural mounts for extra sensors/implements. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | In-row weeding precision Mechanical weeding to ~8 mm from the plant stem · vendor | Labour and fuel use for field tasks Up to 80% reduction (vendor claim; no independent measurement found) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | CE marked for EU sales; UKCA for the UK market | No CE marking found — Korechi states on its own homepage that it "currently serve[s] the US and Canadian markets"; no EU sales or compliance evidence found. |
| Machinery Regulation | Tractor-mounted implement under the EU machinery regime; operator remains in control | Not placed on the EU market; would need to meet the autonomous-machinery provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 if it ever entered the EU. |
| CAP subsidy | Mechanical/herbicide-free weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion measures | Not applicable — US/Canada-market machine with no EU sales, so no CAP eco-scheme relevance. |
"—" 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.