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Man Finally Makes the Weed-Removing Robot

Roland Piquepaille writes "According to the Ludington Daily News, Michigan, Danish agricultural engineers have built a robot to help farmers with weeds. The Hortibot is about 3-foot-by-3-foot, is self-propelled, and uses global positioning system (GPS). It can recognize 25 different kinds of weeds and eliminate them by using its weed-removing attachments. It's also very environmentally friendly because it can reduce herbicide usage by 75 percent. But so far, it's only a prototype and the Danish engineers need to find a manufacturer for distribution."

2 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Pfff by ivan256 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Organic farming, IF applied correct, is better for the soil than robots like this


    Why are you under the mistaken impression that organic farmers don't eliminate weeds? Use of this robot would still allow farmers to label their crop as organic. In fact it may increase the number of "organic" farmers if it means they can replace their herbicides with this thing.

    I also don't know where you get the impression that industrial farms have soils that are "in quite bad conditions". Sure, there are problems like that in countries where they clear-cut, and then farm the land to death, but modern industrial farms keep their soil in excellent condition. They need to in order to be profitable. The real problem with them from the "organic" (can you tell I hate that term? It's worse than "IP") is the run-off from the chemicals they use to keep their soils that way.

    You're right though. Humans are too much of a burden on nature. You can (should) help the problem by sitting on a compost heap and slitting your wrists.
  2. Re:Pfff by ivan256 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Read what I wrote. I wrote "Organic farming, IF applied correct, is better for the soil than robots like this".


    I did read what you wrote, and it's nonsensical and incorrect. Using a robot like this is organic farming, thus can't be "better".

    Also, I hate the term organic not because of any bias, but because it is a roll-up term that is used for many practices (hence the comparison to "IP"). So when somebody says "Organic" or even in some cases "Certified Organic" you don't necessarily have any good idea of what they mean. In other words, I dislike it because it's misleading, not because I'm opposed to it in some manner.

    And lastly, when I said "The real problem with them from the "organic" [...] is the run-off from the chemicals they use to keep their soils that way.", I meant that the non-organic farmers cause chemical run-off. I was actually taking your side, but you were so busy incorrectly assuming that my pointing out your inaccuracies was due to non-existent bias to actually realize it.

    Why was I hateful and on the offensive? Because I get angered by people who are passionate about something they don't actually understand, especially when they've clearly fooled themselves into believing that they do understand. I wasn't pushing you to commit suicide. I was ironically following your broken logic to it's obvious conclusion.