A robot that can suppress the growth of weeds after rice planting was developed to help grow rice without using pesticides or chemical fertilizers, and was demonstrated in Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture.
This robot was developed by an affiliate of Yamagata Design, a company that works on urban development in Tsuruoka City, with technical cooperation from a semiconductor manufacturer headquartered in Tokyo.
The robot is 1.2 meters wide and 20 centimeters high, and when it floats on a paddy field after planting, it uses a special screw to wind up mud in the water.
The turbidity of the water blocks the light and suppresses the growth of weeds.
The robot is equipped with GPS, recognizes the position and moves, and also has the function of moving fully automatically using the electricity charged by the attached solar panel.
Mr. Tetsuya Nakamura, who was in charge of robot development, said, "It will definitely be necessary in the future to make rice without human intervention. We want to reduce the weeding work that burdens farmers with robots that use technology and natural energy." I did.
On the development side, we aim to put it into practical use within a few years by further improving the robot.