Tertill

A round, short robot in a garden with peppers and lettuce. The robot is green, with a solar panel on top. — Time to tend the plants. Ah, peppers. My favorite. Photo: Tertill Corp.

Tertill is a weeding robot designed to help you enjoy the fun and wellness benefits of gardening—without all the weeding. It is solar-powered, weatherproof, and kills weeds mechanically using specially designed wheels and an onboard string trimmer.

Creator

Tertill Corporation

Year

2019

Country

United States 🇺🇸

Categories

Consumer

Features

An overview of the robot. Video: Tertill

Did you know?

Tertill was created by the inventor of Roomba.

Side view of the robot showing an object on its bottom facing the ground. — Weeds can't pass under its belly without getting whacked down. Photo: Tertill Corp.

History

Tertill was created by Franklin Robotics (now Tertill Corporation), a startup in North Billerica, Mass., founded by Joe Jones, a co-inventor of the Roomba. Jones began by building a series of Tertill prototypes, which evolved in shape from round to rectangular and back to round. The robot also went from two-wheel to four-wheel drive to improve its ability to navigate slopes and ruts. In addition, the final version was equipped with camber wheels for extra traction. After a successful crowdfunding campaign, Tertill went on sale in 2019, priced at US $350. In 2021, Jones and two co-inventors were granted US Patent No. 10888045, "Weeding Robot and Method."

A small green robot with a solar panel on top in a flower garden. — Flowers bring robots joy, too. Photo: Tertill Corp.

Specs

Overview: Uses capacitive and inertial sensing. Has 4-wheel drive and extreme camber wheels to maneuver in outdoor environments. Equipped with a rugged weatherproof shell and large solar panel.
Status: Ongoing
Year: 2019
Website: tertill.com
Width: 21 cm
Height: 12 cm
Length: 21 cm
Weight: 1.1 kg
Speed: 0.44 km/h
Sensors: Capacitive sensors to detect plants, weeds, and conductive obstacles. Wheel rotation sensors to detect and control the motion of its wheels. Accelerometers and gyros to, among other things, detect non-conductive obstacles and avoid dangerous slopes.
Actuators: Four brushed DC motors drive the wheels. One brushed DC motor powers the weed whacker.
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 5 (drive wheels: 4 DoF ; whacker: 1 DoF)
Materials: Polycarbonate ABS plastic, rubber gaskets.
Compute: Main CPU is nRF52832 BLE processor from Nordic.
Software: Software is custom-built.
Power: Solar-powered, weeds in 2-5 minute intervals for 1-2 hours a day.
Cost: $350