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Engineers have developed a solar-powered, weed-killing robot which could be yours for around £230.
The Tertill, whose housebound cousin, Roomba, burst onto the scene in 2002 with its automated indoor hoovering skills, will use sensors to patrol your garden, pick out and tear down small, nuisance plants invading your crops.
The gadget, which carries all the charm of a miniature tractor, is even resistant to rain and can be connected to your phone via Bluetooth, but it will (like most of us) struggle to climb steep hills.
Franklin Robotics
Franklin Robotics, Lowell, Massachusetts. 120 likes. We are developing Tertill: a solar powered weeding robot for home gardens
Tertill uses algorithms to locate as many weeds as it can whack down with its strimmer, however you’ll need to allow enough space between your desired plants for the machine to meander through.
The robot can also be charged through a USB port, and champions pesticide-free weeding.
It may also be prone to wandering onto your neighbour’s lawn, so it will need a barrier to keep it within the confines of your patch.
Tertill, designed by Roomba co-creator Joe Jones and Massachusetts-based startup Franklin Robotics, will be crowdfunded by a Kickstarter campaign set to begin on June 13.
