Solinftec unveils new robot designed to detect and spray weeds

Ag digitalisation specialist, Solinftec, has announced it is expanding its Solix Ag Robotics offerings. In addition to its Solix Scouting robot, the company has unveiled its Solix Sprayer robot designed to detect and spray weeds.

In partnership with manufacturing, research, and development company, McKinney Corporation, who will produce and manufacture the Solix spray robot, this new technology is slated to become commercially available in 2023 to the entire agricultural market including farmers, cooperatives, and ag retailers.

“Solinftec’s partnership with McKinney Corporation will positively impact our ability to market and deliver Solix Ag Robotics by consolidating Solix’s scalability and accelerating service to the -North American markets,” commented Leonardo Carvalho, Solinftec’s Director of Operations. “It also supports Solinftec’s goal of making this technology available globally.”

A leading innovator and pioneer in the AgTech space, and champion for sustainable farm practices, Solinftec has designed its scouting and sprayer robots to help producers reduce their chemical inputs and deliver a lower carbon footprint and environmental impact.

The new Solix Sprayer robot will provide autonomous and sustainable spot-spray applications on grower’s fields. Similar to the Solix Scouting robot, the spray robot is powered by four solar panels that control the drive system and the spray system while providing reports on crop populations, weed identification and densities, disease identification and thresholds, insect identification and thresholds, nutrient deficiency identification and densities, NDVI among other layers of maps for data analysis, and much more useful data to the grower virtually 24/7.

The Solix spray robot will provide weed spot-spray maps with analysis on inputs saved and can services up to 96 acres per day depending on the field shape and terrain.

With a goal to change agriculture in order to transform the world, the need and priority to feed the world on a larger scale with a smaller impact has made Solinftec seek out new ways to reimagine agriculture. A Brazil-founded company with its US offices in Indiana, Solinftec is revolutionizing how farmers run their business with end-to-end mission critical solutions, generating up to 70% efficiency improvements by turning data into action. With more than 15 years of experience developing digital ag solutions throughout various geographies and crops around the world, the Solix Ag Robotics, connected and integrated with Solinftec’s innovative ALICE AI platform, works together to orchestrate machine operations and calculates producers’ ultimate needs and objectives and delivers real-time actionable recommendations and actions in a more eco-friendly way.

“Solinftec focuses on really solving structural problems in agricultural management and offers  solutions that truly promote low-impact agriculture and not only measure or certify the footprint but offers a real solution to reduce your impact,” added Carvalho. “Weed detection is a leading issue in fields across the North America and the Solix Sprayer is designed to not only monitor and scan fields like the original scouting version, but detect and manage weeds with technology that allows the device to spot-spray into the plant instead of from above, eliminating drift and social compaction caused by larger machines and help lower environmental impact.”

Pilots for the Solix models are currently running in North America in partnership with the ag cooperative GROWMARK, Purdue University in the USA, and Stone Farms and University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, Canada.