Airion Inc. is pleased to announce the publication of a collaboration and case study with Stearmotor Inc., a company operating in the automotive, wireless power transfer, and renewable energy businesses.
Through this collaboration, the two companies jointly developed an "Autonomous Herbicide-Spraying Robot" that uses a quadruped robot to reduce the workload of weeding around solar panels.
■ Background of the Collaboration and Challenges Before Adoption
Stearmotor faced the following challenges in the regular weeding required around its solar panels.
- Challenge 1: Strain on human resources
Weeding across a vast site consumed valuable personnel, making it difficult to focus on core operations. - Challenge 2: Harsh working conditions and safety concerns
The heavy workload under the blazing sun raised concerns about worker safety and about sustaining the work over time.
To solve these challenges and reach a state in which a robot could travel autonomously within the solar panel site and spray herbicide along a planned route on its own, Airion joined the project as a technology partner, bringing its strengths in building AI-driven automation systems, and developed the system described here.
■ Technical Solution
The system is built on the Unitree Go2-W quadruped robot. A travel route is set within the solar power facility, and the robot moves autonomously along that route while spraying herbicide.
We adopted the Go2-W, which carries wheels on its legs, for its mobility on outdoor grassland and uneven ground. By linking the robot's motion control with the spraying mechanism, we aim to make weeding possible without an operator having to stay on-site.
■ Expected Results and Outlook
By introducing this system, weeding work that had been done by hand can now be carried out with fewer people, and freeing workers from hazardous work under the blazing sun contributes to a safer working environment.
Going forward, we will continue field operation tests to improve the system's accuracy and pursue further gains in efficiency.
■ Company Profile
[About Stearmotor Inc.]
- Company name: Stearmotor Inc.
- Address: Arca Central 14F, 1-2-1 Kinshi, Sumida-ku, Tokyo 130-0013, Japan
- Representative Director: Yuki Sugisawa
- Business: Next-generation automotive business, wireless power transfer business, renewable energy business
- URL: http://stearmotor.com
■ Inquiries About Physical AI Technology
If you are interested in the latest physical AI technology or in automating operations with autonomous mobile robots, please feel free to contact us through the form below.
Inquiry Form: https://airion.co.jp/#contact