Tertill: The solar powered weeding robot for home gardens

[EC]

Meet Tertill, the solar powered weeding robot for your garden

Tertill is a solar-powered and weatherproof robot that weeds your garden every day.

With Tertill, gardeners can now enjoy weed-free vegetable and flower gardens, without the monotony and frustration of weeding.  Organic gardeners can breathe easy and enjoy a weed-free, chemical-free garden all season long.

Created by roboticist Joe Jones – inventor of the Roomba – Franklin Robotics’ Tertill is designed to live in your garden and take care of the weeding, come rain or shine.
How does it work?

Tertill lives in your garden and prevents weeds from becoming established.  Using unique design elements and a variety of sensors, Tertill patrols the garden daily, avoiding plants and obstacles while looking for weeds to eliminate.

How does it know what's a weed and what's a plant?

Tertill has a very simple method: weeds are short, plants are tall. A plant tall enough to touch the front of Tertill's shell activates a sensor that makes the robot turn away. A plant short enough to pass under Tertill’s shell, though, activates a different sensor that turns on the weed cutter. 

Because Tertill's approach is height-based, put one of the provided plant collars around short plants until they are tall enough for Tertill to recognize. When Tertill approaches the collar, it will recognize it and turn away.

More: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rorymackean/tertill-the-solar-powered-weeding-robot-for-home-g

It's a kickstarter, but neat.

[Joe Wooten]

Intended for non-serious gardeners, who cannot be bothered to bend over and pull a few weeds.

[EC]

Sent the link to my Dad - he's not over keen on bending over to weed at his age. He thinks "gimmick" too - his flower beds are never sparse enough for one of these things to be useful.

[thackney]

Intended for non-serious gardeners, who cannot be bothered to bend over and pull a few weeds.

Or those of us who are overwhelmed with time demands from too many sides.

I like the idea, but can easily imaging a bad sensor destroying the entire garden near harvest time.

[RoosGirl]

Or those of us who are overwhelmed with time demands from too many sides.

I like the idea, but can easily imaging a bad sensor destroying the entire garden near harvest time.

Yes, I don't see a problem with a useful tool doing some "grunt" work when there are a ton of other things to do around the homestead.

[Fantom]

My weeds would be playing volleyball with that.