The Tensorfield team was back in Bakersfield this week running Jetty – our precision thermal weeder – on production carrot acres. There were a challenging number of weeds on the field threatening to outcompete the crops at only the cotyledon stage. With the latest updates to our detection models – we were able to safely discern crops from weeds for targeting even at this small size.
We had a tight window to get in and out of the field as carrots need near-constant watering in this hot weather, meaning lightweight machines that can travel quickly in damp furrows without deforming the beds have the advantage.
Returning the next day to walk the field – we saw some great examples of weeds picked off between the delicate cotyledon carrots:
In another recent field deployment, the platform also demonstrated efficacy with larger weeds among fern-leaf carrots:
Results are promising but there’s always room for improvement – with new features to maximize weed kill and crop safety continuously being tested and rolled out by the Tensorfield team. Feedback and suggestions welcome in the comments below!