Vitirover vs Field Friend (Feldfreund)
Two weeding machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
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.Modular AI mini field robot from Zauberzeug (Havixbeck, Münsterland) — a ~100 kg tracked platform under 1 m³ that uses onboard camera AI (the "Zauberzeug Robot Brain" edge-compute unit) to distinguish crops from weeds and mechanically remove them, including deep-rooted weeds. Offered both as a pay-per-hour weeding service (no machine purchase) and as a development platform; trade press reported roughly €20,000 for the machine with tools up to ~€5,000 extra. Winner of the Münsterland Innovation Award 2023/24.
Best for: Small-scale German vegetable and row-crop growers, market gardens and research users who want camera-guided mechanical in-row weeding without a big capex — pay per hour of weeding done.| Vitirover Verified 2026-07-17 | Field Friend (Feldfreund) Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Weeding | Weeding |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | France | Germany |
| 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 | Solar + Li-ion · integrated panel gives 5–6 h/day; optional dock charges 8 h for 16 h work | Battery-electric; solar panel and backup battery cited for extended operation |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled) | Is the vehicle (compact tracked mini robot) |
| Dimensions | 75 × 40 × 30 cm | Under 1 m³ compact footprint (dev-kit chassis: 845 × 670 × 685 mm) |
| Weight | 23–27 kg | ~100 kg (dev-kit chassis 100 kg) |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | ~500 m/h; ~1 ha per robot per ~10 days; fleets scale to 50 robots per operator | Not disclosed |
| Max speed | <1 km/h | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Multi-constellation GNSS (GPS/GLONASS/BeiDou/Galileo) with Trimble MB-Two RTK/PPP · inertial sensors · dual RGB cameras | Camera AI crop/weed differentiation · GPS-RTK navigation · Zauberzeug Robot Brain edge-AI computer |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | ~€10,000 | ~€20,000 |
| Native price | ~€10,000 incl. charging station | ~€20,000 (machine, trade-press reported, Nov 2024) + up to ~€5,000 tools; service model priced per hour |
| Business model | Buy, or VAAS annual service subscription with fleet shepherding | Pay-per-hour weeding service as the headline model; machine and dev-kit purchase also offered |
| Ongoing cost | VAAS: €2,100–€3,100 per robot per year; blades and wear parts if owned | Service model includes maintenance; battery cycling and tool wear if machine is owned |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Herbicide use for under-vine vegetation control Continuous chemical-free robotic grazing at 5–10 cm cut height · vendor | Herbicide use Camera-guided mechanical single-weed removal, herbicide-free, including deep-rooted weeds · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | CE status not published; French manufacturer selling commercially in the EU | German-built machine operating commercially in Germany; CE status not independently verified |
| Machinery Regulation | Placed on the EU market by Vitirover SAS; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply | EU-built; conformity route under the EU machinery regime not published |
| CAP subsidy | Herbicide-free mechanical vegetation control supports CAP eco-scheme and herbicide-reduction measures | Herbicide-free mechanical weeding supports CAP eco-scheme and organic goals |
"—" 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.