RoamIO-HCW 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.
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.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.| RoamIO-HCW Verified 2026-07-19 | TOR laser weeder Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Canada | Netherlands |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | 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 | Battery-electric with solar panel; swappable battery, ~10 h operation at standard weed density |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled); 13.4 hp (10 kW) brushless DC motors, peak 22.2 hp (16.6 kW) | Is the vehicle (autonomous laser-weeding platform) |
| Dimensions | 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 | Working width 1.5 m (TOR Flex); 1.8 m and 3.0 m versions announced |
| Weight | 1,300 lb (590 kg) | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Not disclosed | ~1.3 ha/day autonomous; ~1 ha per 18.5 h at 360 m/h at standard weed density |
| Max speed | 4 mph (6.5 kph) | 360–500 m/h working speed |
| Sensors | 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 | 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 | 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. | Direct sale by Trabotyx B.V.; maximum 10 machines available for the 2026 season; Dutch robotics subsidy rounds have applied |
| Ongoing cost | 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. | €14,980 per year service, support and maintenance; battery cycling |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Labour and fuel use for field tasks Up to 80% reduction (vendor claim; no independent measurement found) · vendor | Weed pressure -91% · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | 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. | Dutch-built machine launched commercially June 2025; CE marking not independently verified |
| Machinery Regulation | 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. | EU-built series product; conformity route under the EU machinery regime not published |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — US/Canada-market machine with no EU sales, so no CAP eco-scheme relevance. | 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.