Dahlia Robotics is a Germany-based startup that provides 100% electric autonomous robots for crop protection. The solution aims to eliminate herbicide and pesticide usage by integrating AI into its robots to navigate the field and to detect and mechanically remove weeds. The Dahlia 3.3 model robot’s detection uses artificial neural networks to detect weeds from crops, with real-time detection accuracy of 99%.
The model is currently optimized for weed removal in sugar beet and salad crops. The robot can cover 6.4 hectares per robot per weeding session for sugar beets, where its capacity is working on 3 parallel rows at a time and operating 8 hours a day on its battery power. Dahlia Robotics aims to improve its throughput to 20 hectares per robot and increase its operating time to 24 hours in 2022. The company also aims to include new features such as detecting pests and diseases, crop nutrient levels, crop growth, and weather damage in the future.
In December 2021, the company received EUR 500,000 (USD 566,000) in funding from European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program and project ESMERA. These projects are part of the European Union’s farm-to-fork strategy, which aims for a 50% reduction in pesticides and 25% reduction in organic farmland by 2030. The funds will be used toward commercialization and development of its autonomous robots.
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