The use of agricultural robots in weed management and control

Weed management and control are essential for the production of high-yielding and high-quality crops, and advances in weed control technology have had a huge impact on agricultural productivity. Any effective weed control technology needs to be both robust and adaptable. Robust weed control technology will successfully control weeds in spite of variability in the field conditions. Adaptable weed control technology has the capacity to change its strategy in the context of evolving weed populations, genetics, and climatic conditions. This chapter focuses on key work in the development of robotic weeders, including weed perception systems and weed control mechanisms. Following an extensive introduction, the chapter addresses the challenges of robotic weed control focusing on both perception systems, which can detect and classify weed plants from crop plants, and also weed control mechanisms, covering both chemical and mechanical weed control. A case study of an automated weeding system is provided