News report:
http://globalnews.ca/news/3472730/dandelions-dominate-lawns-as-edmontonians-demand-more-help-from-city/
What is needed is a automated robotic Dandelion weeder.
Some initial thoughts:
Technology:
- Vision Processing (Nvidia Jetson TX1/TX2) – Computer + GPU
- Snipper (removes the flower – downs not remove the roots)
- Drill/Auger (for displacing the root system)
Potential Form Factors (solar power):
- Lawn-Mower type (flat fields)
- 6 leg spider-like (able to handle steep hills)
What I envision is a system that is autonomous and runs during the day using solar power as that is when the Dandelion’s flowers are open. This makes it easier for the vision processing system to recognize the flower.
Once the Dandelion has been identified then the robotic weeder would either snip the flower (before it can move to seed) or still better would be to remove the root system.
At present there are few academic papers/systems on identifying the dandelions using vision processing. I have not searched for the best mechanics for removing the Dandelion.