Kilter AX-1: First Autonomous Weeding Robot Lands in NZ
Claimed to be the first autonomous robot for New Zealand vegetables growers, the first Kilter AX-1 unit has arrived in the country.
The attachment builds on Yamaha’s established Prospr autonomous vehicle platform, enabling growers to further enhance automation and improve operational efficiency and reduce manual inputs.
For local growers, the Croplands–Yamaha Agriculture partnership continues to strengthen both companies’ capabilities in rapidly emerging technology, with Croplands manufacturing the Q-Series fungicide sprayer attachment for global markets, while also holding exclusive distribution of Prospr and related attachments throughout Australia and New Zealand.
Croplands general manager Brendan Deck said the herbicide attachment reflects growing demand from horticulturalists for practical, scalable automation solutions that deliver measurable benefits on farm.
“Prospr has already proven itself as a reliable autonomous platform in vineyards and orchards, and this upcoming herbicide attachment is a natural next step,” Deck said. “Growers are telling us they want automation that fits seamlessly into existing programs, particularly around weed control where labour and timing are critical. This attachment extends the capability of Prospr while keeping operation straightforward and efficient.”
Deck goes on to explain the partnership with Yamaha Agriculture provided confidence for growers who were considering investing in autonomous technology.
“Yamaha Agriculture brings global engineering capability and autonomous solutions, while Croplands boasts over 50 years as sprayer specialists backed by service and support on the ground,” he said.
Yamaha Agriculture president and CEO, Nolan Paul, said the herbicide attachment demonstrates Yamaha Agriculture’s ongoing focus on developing flexible automation solutions for speciality crops. Releasing the herbicide attachment is the next step in developing a suite of products growers can rely on for various tasks in their orchards and vineyards.
“Yamaha Agriculture works to help specialty crop growers be more sustainable, profitable and resilient,” Paul says. “We build precision ag automation and intelligent systems that help growers plan, act and adapt with confidence – having multiple attachments, delivered via expert partners is a key pillar of our strategy to deliver automation globally, at scale.”
