Robocrop InRow Weeder vs Vitirover
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.French solar-powered micro-mower for vineyards, orchards and agrivoltaic sites — a 23–27 kg swarm robot that grazes vegetation at ~500 m/h, up to 16 h per day on sun and Li-ion. One 'shepherd' operator manages up to 50 robots from the Viticloud dashboard; born at Château Canon La Gaffelière in Saint-Émilion and sold outright or as Robot-as-a-Service.
Best for: Vignerons and orchardists wanting chemical-free under-vine and inter-row vegetation control with near-zero energy cost, especially as a managed fleet across parcels or solar farms.| Robocrop InRow Weeder Verified 2026-07-16 | Vitirover Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | AI-assisted | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | France |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Tractor-mounted implement, hydraulic drive | Solar + Li-ion · integrated panel gives 5–6 h/day; optional dock charges 8 h for 16 h work |
| Required tractor power | Conventional tractor required; hydraulic side-shift steering of the toolbar | Not required (self-propelled) |
| Dimensions | Working widths up to 6 m / up to 20 rows supplied; larger builds available | 75 × 40 × 30 cm |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 23–27 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Forward speeds up to 6 plant spacings per second | ~500 m/h; ~1 ha per robot per ~10 days; fleets scale to 50 robots per operator |
| Max speed | Crop-spacing dependent (up to 6 plants/s per row) | <1 km/h |
| 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 GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo) with Trimble MB-Two RTK/PPP · inertial sensors · dual RGB cameras |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | ~€10,000 |
| Native price | Not disclosed | ~€10,000 incl. charging station |
| Business model | Buy via Garford and its UK/international dealer network | Buy, or VAAS annual service subscription with fleet shepherding |
| Ongoing cost | Wear metal (discs, blades), camera care; no software subscription published | VAAS: €2,100–€3,100 per robot per year; blades and wear parts if owned |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | In-row weeding precision Mechanical weeding to ~8 mm from the plant stem · vendor | Herbicide use for under-vine vegetation control Continuous chemical-free robotic grazing at 5–10 cm cut height · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | CE marked for EU sales; UKCA for the UK market | CE status not published; French manufacturer selling commercially in the EU |
| Machinery Regulation | Tractor-mounted implement under the EU machinery regime; operator remains in control | Placed on the EU market by Vitirover SAS; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Mechanical/herbicide-free weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic conversion measures | Herbicide-free mechanical vegetation control supports CAP eco-scheme and herbicide-reduction measures |
"—" 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.