AX-1 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.
Norwegian ultra-precision weeding robot for open-field vegetables — an AI vision system detects individual weeds and a patented Single-Drop nozzle (SDT) fires one micro-droplet of herbicide directly onto each weed at 6x6mm resolution, cutting herbicide input by a manufacturer-claimed average of 96.6%. Independently tested by Wageningen University & Research at over 99% spray-drift reduction (Dutch DRT99, the system's highest class), and commercially deployed since 2021 across Norway, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Australia, with a 2025 Kubota partnership now expanding EU dealer-network sales.
Best for: Open-field vegetable and root-crop growers (carrots, onions, beets, celery/celeriac, spinach, salads, parsley and similar) in Norway and neighbouring EU markets who still spray herbicide and want to sharply cut volume and drift without switching to purely mechanical or laser weeding.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.| AX-1 Verified 2026-07-18 | Vitirover Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Norway | France |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-18 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Electric drive with a small onboard petrol generator (per GOFAR robotics database; not itemized on the manufacturer's own site) | Solar + Li-ion · integrated panel gives 5–6 h/day; optional dock charges 8 h for 16 h work |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled autonomous unit) | Not required (self-propelled) |
| Dimensions | Approx. 220 x 215 x 150 cm (third-party listing; not published by Kilter) | 75 × 40 × 30 cm |
| Weight | 280 kg dry / 365 kg wet (GOFAR database; distributed to minimise soil compaction) | 23–27 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Not disclosed — third-party estimates conflict (0.33-1 ha/hr) and Kilter does not publish a figure | ~500 m/h; ~1 ha per robot per ~10 days; fleets scale to 50 robots per operator |
| Max speed | Up to 2 km/h (third-party listing; not published by Kilter) | <1 km/h |
| Sensors | AI vision with a deep-learning neural network for real-time weed/crop detection at 6x6mm targeting resolution; RTK-GNSS (dual-antenna) and IMU for autonomous navigation (third-party listing) | Multi-constellation GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo) with Trimble MB-Two RTK/PPP · inertial sensors · dual RGB cameras |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ≈€130,000 | ~€10,000 |
| Native price | ≈€130,000 (third-party: Future Farming robot database — Kilter quotes individually) | ~€10,000 incl. charging station |
| Business model | Buy — direct from Kilter AS (Langhus, Norway) via a consultative sales process (farm details submitted for a quote; no public price list), or through regional distributors such as Croplands (Australia). A Kubota partnership (announced at Agritechnica 2025) is expanding dealer-network sales in Germany and the Netherlands through 2025-2026. | Buy, or VAAS annual service subscription with fleet shepherding |
| Ongoing cost | Herbicide/bio-herbicide refills (any crop-registered agrochemical usable in a boom sprayer, e.g. pelargonic acid); Single-Drop nozzle module (SDT-N2) wear parts. Specific service cost figures not disclosed. | VAAS: €2,100–€3,100 per robot per year; blades and wear parts if owned |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Spray drift vs. a conventional reference sprayer More than 99% spray-drift reduction — qualifies for DRT99, the highest class in the Dutch drift-reduction classification system · independent | Herbicide use for under-vine vegetation control Continuous chemical-free robotic grazing at 5–10 cm cut height · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | No explicit CE-marking statement found on Kilter's public materials; the AX-1 is sold and in active commercial/pilot use in EU member states (Sweden, Germany, Netherlands) and passed independent Dutch DRT99 spray-drift certification (WUR/TCT) | CE status not published; French manufacturer selling commercially in the EU |
| Machinery Regulation | Not explicitly addressed by the manufacturer; as an autonomous field-spraying machine placed on EU markets, would fall under the autonomous-machine provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 if formally assessed | Placed on the EU market by Vitirover SAS; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Precision spot-application (manufacturer-claimed ~95-96.6% herbicide reduction) supports CAP eco-scheme and integrated-pest-management / pesticide-reduction objectives | 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.