Agricultural machinery corporations TYM Co. said on the 4th that it launched in Korea the autonomous driving robot "Aigamo Robo," which suppresses the spread of paddy weeds without using herbicides.
Aigamo Robo does not remove weeds that have already grown but focuses on suppression technology that creates an environment where weeds have difficulty growing. As it runs, it uses "water turbidity," which occurs when a brush attached to the underside stirs up soil. The clouded water blocks sunlight and hinders weed photosynthesis, and the settling mud particles cover weed seeds.
It prevents water pollution and also reduces methane emissions. By blocking weeds from absorbing nutrients, it improves fertilizer efficiency, which can also ease farmers' burdens for agrochemical and production costs.
The suppression effect was also confirmed in demonstrations. In a 2024 demonstration test in Japan, it was verified to suppress weed occurrence to below the organic cultivation target (50g/㎡). Before the domestic launch, a domestic paddy demonstration was conducted with Chonnam National University, dividing areas into robot-operated and non-operated zones and comparing weed occurrence and rice growth status on a weekly basis. As a result, a tendency for weed occurrence to be suppressed was confirmed in the operated zones.
The turbidity of paddy water where the robot passed was measured at a level more than twice as high as ordinary muddy water. It blocked the light needed for weed photosynthesis.
Oh Ju-seon, a professor in the Department of Convergence Biosystems Mechanical Engineering at Chonnam National University, said, "In this demonstration, Aigamo Robo's weed suppression rate rose from 47.39% in week two to 74.91% in week three." He added, "As the turbidity generated by the robot and about a 96% shading rate accumulated, it blocked the initial growth of weeds, and not a single weed was collected in the areas where the robot operated."