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
Features
An overview of the robot. Video: Tertill

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Appearance

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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
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