With $85 million in funding from Nvidia, Carbon Robotics is leading the agricultural revolution with AI laser weeding technology

According to the survey, weeding is currently the most preferred automated farm task for professional crop growers. For farmers, the biggest problem with weeds is not the weed itself, but how to find enough labor to cope with the tedious work. 

To address this challenge, a number of agri-tech start-ups have invested in research and development. Among them, Carbon Robotics, a leader in the agricultural technology industry in the United States, has attracted the attention of the industry. Recently, the company successfully received a new round of investment from NVIDIA's venture capital firm NVentures to further promote the development and application of its AI agricultural solutions.

Carbon Robotics has raised a total of $85 million to date, which will be an important driver for its product innovation and global expansion.

Paul Mikesell opens a new era of weed control 

Carbon Robotics was founded in 2018 by Paul Mikesell in Seattle, USA. A graduate of the University of Washington, he is an experienced technology entrepreneur, having co-founded Isilon Systems, which he successfully sold in 2010 for $2.25 billion. He then worked as an engineer at Uber and Facebook, where he gained extensive technical and management experience.

Carbon Robotics' agricultural innovation concept is rooted in a deep understanding of the field from the field to the field. "We are learning about what is happening on the farm every day and are committed to making a real difference to farmers through our efforts in the field," Mikesell said. He realized that what farmers really wanted was an innovative technology that could be seamlessly integrated with existing farming systems, not a complete overhaul of traditional farming practices. In today's agricultural practice, weed control is the guarantee of agricultural ecological balance. For farmers pursuing organic farming, finding an advanced and environmentally friendly weeding solution is critical to ensuring crop harvests and sustainable use of farmland.

With this in mind, Carbon Robotics has developed a suite of AI-centric, chemical-free farming solutions to improve soil health with a mission to protect crops, people and the planet. In exploring sustainable agriculture, the company found that laser technology was an effective way to address the challenges of weed management and successfully launched an automated laser weeder.

As Mikesell emphasizes, "The moment the laser is combined with our AI platform, it marks the beginning of a new era in weed management when we can pinpoint and eliminate weeds." 

By 2023, Carbon Robotics had achieved significant growth in performance, tripling its laser weeder deliveries and successfully raising $43 million in new capital. The company has established partnerships with well-known growers in the United States, such as Taylor Farms, Cal-Organic and Braga Fresh, and has expanded its products and technology to the European and Australian markets.

LaserWeeder Automatic laser weeder reduces weeding costs by up to 80% 

Carbon Robotics' core product, LaserWeeder, is an automated laser weeder that will be launched in 2021. LaserWeeder uses advanced AI technology, combined with a high-precision laser system, to accurately identify and remove weeds in the field, completely subverting traditional weeding operations. Equipped with 24 NVIDIA graphics processing units, the device is capable of processing 4.7 million high-resolution images per hour with sub-millimeter accuracy and can eradicate 5,000 weeds per minute while keeping crops safe and intact.

Behind LaserWeeder's superior performance is its complex and sophisticated technical architecture. It is equipped with 30 150W CO2 lasers, with tracking cameras, as well as 9x LED lighting and 12x high resolution prediction cameras, ensuring accurate identification of weeds in any lighting conditions. In addition, artificial intelligence deep learning models and sophisticated computer vision software for more than 100 crops allow machines to distinguish between crops and weeds in real time, enabling intelligent decision-making.

″This breakthrough technology not only reduces the cost of weeding crops by up to 80%, but also significantly improves crop yield and quality, effectively protects soil health, and opens new avenues for sustainable agriculture and organic farming. "Laser weeder is a revolutionary tool that dramatically reduces additional costs while providing predictability and control to our weeding methods," said Juan Calderon, Director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

"For organic growers, LaserWeeder can essentially pay for itself in one to three years, depending on the weed control costs saved for them each year," Mikesell said. This is important to them because finding enough labor to do the weeding work is tricky and difficult. Our machines allow farmers to easily carry out organic weed control without relying on human labor. Even if they have good staff, they are not expected to spend their valuable time pulling weeds when they need their Labour more on other aspects of the farm."

To further improve the efficiency of agricultural management, Carbon Robotics also introduced customer portal software. The software allows farmers to see details such as weed type, location, number found and number removed in real time, giving farmers full control over field management and improving crop yield and quality.

Expand the business layout and lead the agricultural revolution of laser weeding technology 

When it comes to the future, Carbon Robotics has outlined a clear path forward. The company is committed to expanding its business footprint to more parts of the world and plans to bring innovative agricultural technology products to a wider international market. At the same time, Carbon Robotics is actively addressing challenges such as supply chain issues, import and export requirements, and rising working capital costs associated with high interest rates.

Knowing that organic agriculture and sustainable development require efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, Carbon Robotics is working to shorten the return on investment cycle for organic growers and provide economically viable weed management solutions for organic agriculture by reducing reliance on human and chemical herbicides. In terms of technological innovation, Carbon Robotics continuously enhances the performance of the LaserWeeder platform with software updates, such as the introduction of LTE or Starlink wireless transmission technology.

In addition, the company has added multilingual support to its iPad operating program, aiming to break down language barriers and enable farmers in more parts of the world to easily and effectively take advantage of the company's advanced technology. In terms of product innovation, Carbon Robotics plans to introduce a series of innovative products that complement the laser weeder, and these new products will target key areas in agricultural operations to provide farmers with more comprehensive solutions.

"NVIDIA's support for Carbon Robotics enhances the ability of laser weeder products to process millions of images per hour for precise weed control and demonstrates the practical application of NVIDIA AI solutions to improve agricultural efficiency and sustainability," Mikesell said.

Looking ahead, as Carbon Robotics' collaboration with NVentures continues to deepen, an agricultural revolution led by laser weeding technology is quietly underway.