In the ever-evolving realm of agriculture technology, FieldCraft Technologies emerges as a beacon of innovation and expertise. Specializing in spot spraying solutions crafted by CarbonBee in France, this company is on a mission to revolutionize ag chemical reduction with cutting-edge AI and imaging technology.
Spot spraying isn't new. Most farms have been doing it for many years. But things have moved on in a big way.
"Go spray the blackgrass patches in the field off!"
That would be a common one we would often hear on farms, the spray operator mixes up some Glyphosate and water in a mix they think would be enough for the patches and go spraying!
The Smart Striker X system takes that ethos of targeting only what needs to be sprayed to the next level. It does it in a very clever way too. Utilising state-of-the-art in-house AI, RGB cameras and Hyperspectral cameras to actively detect and identify weeds and then spray them. All within a few mili seconds.
It takes it one step further with the ability to target specific species in specific crops meaning Green on Green is more possible than ever. But what is Green on Green spraying? And what is Green on Brown for that matter... you've probably heard of both terms so let's dive into it.
Green on Brown
Targets green targets on a brown backdrop. If you're in a stubble field or bare soil field the Green on Brown mode will see anything green and turn on the relevant nozzles to get excellent coverage and a good kill. This mode could alse be adapted and used for pre- harvest desiccations. Green on Brown is the most common spot spraying solution offered by the Smart Striker X and all of its competitors. The way each achieves this varies but the same principle applies.
Green On Green
This is where we start to see differences in the systems on the market. We also start to see how the different technologies offered by Carbon Bee give it that extra edge in weed detection accuracy and decision making. With a vast array of crop types and weed targets in its arsenal the Smart Striker X allows users to reduce their chemical use in a wide range of crops. Checkout a full list of crops available in green on green mode here. https://www.fieldcraft-tech.co.uk/general-4
How can it detect weeds in a growing crop?
The Smart Striker X cameras are mounted every 3 metres along the sprayer boom allowing them to see up to 3 metres ahead of the boom. The cameras are also mounted in a way allowing for overlapped coverage, meaning no section of boom is missed for detecting and spraying weeds.
The cameras look at 3 main things:
Shape
Texture
Colour
Using both cameras inside each unit and AI it looks at those 3 elements before making a decision on what it has seen and if it needs to be sprayed or not.
Unlike others on the market, the Smart Striker X needs only a few hundred images to train its AI algorithms meaning they can be developed much quicker.
Based on what has been seen the Smart Striker X system turns on one or more nozzles to effectively cover the detected weeds with chemical.
To see how much you could save using our bespoke savings calculator, email us at info@fieldcraft-tech.co.uk