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Deployment

LaserWeeder at Arvin

Carbon Robotics (founded 2018, Seattle, Washington; founder and CEO Paul Mikesell) makes the commercial LaserWeeder, which combines computer vision with high-power lasers to kill weeds without chemicals. By its own reporting the product has serviced more than 250,000 acres, eliminated over 15 billion weeds, and runs as 150-plus machines on 100-plus farms across roughly fourteen to fifteen countries; a modular, faster LaserWeeder G2 line launched in February 2025.

A load-bearing classification point: the LaserWeeder is a towed, pull-behind implement with no locomotion of its own, pulled through the field by a conventional tractor. Carbon's original 2021 LaserWeeder was a self-driving platform, but the company deliberately pivoted to a smart-implement format for faster payback.

Its separate Carbon AutoTractor kit, launched in April 2025, is the autonomy and mobility layer: a retrofit that adds remote-supervised driverless operation to John Deere 6R and 8R tractors, at an early and limited commercial release. On funding, Carbon's own Series D release puts total funding at $157 million (a $70 million Series D led by BOND in October 2024, after a $30 million Series C led by Sozo in 2023), with an additional roughly $20 million raised in October 2025 for a new undisclosed robot; an aggregator figure of about $276 million is not primary-verified and is not asserted here.

LaserWeeder by Carbon Robotics · Operated by Carbon Robotics · Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verified · Agricultural robots

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Machine-readable surfaces

Footage

PRIMARY SOURCE
Courtesy of Carbon Robotics

Carbon Robotics' footage of its LaserWeeder G2 performing AI-vision laser weeding in-field. The LaserWeeder is a tractor-towed implement, not an autonomous vehicle: the tractor provides locomotion while computer vision targets and lasers weeds.

Grimmway Farms (Arvin, CA; Kern County) was among the first named customers in the commercial launch of the Carbon Robotics LaserWeeder in February 2022, when the first production run of 30-laser machines sold out immediately. Grimmway Farms is one of the largest carrot and vegetable growers in the United States, with large-scale field operations across the San Joaquin Valley and Salinas Valley.

The LaserWeeder enables precise autonomous weed removal using directed laser beams, reducing reliance on manual weeding labor and eliminating chemical herbicide costs across Grimmway's extensive row-crop acreage.

Key facts

Customer cohort
Named in first commercial production run (30-laser LaserWeeder), which sold out at launch in February 2022
Scale
One of the largest carrot growers in the US; San Joaquin Valley and Salinas Valley operations
Technology
Directed laser beams for precise autonomous weed removal
Use Case
Reducing reliance on manual weeding labor and eliminating chemical herbicide costs
Coverage
Extensive row-crop acreage

Safety record

No incidents on record for LaserWeeder at Arvin.

Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.

Trust tier
Catalog entry · 1 source · not yet field-verifiedhow tiers work →
Last updated
2026-07-10
Model
LaserWeeder
Company
Carbon Robotics
Location
United States/California/Arvin
Operator
Carbon Robotics
Status
operational
Operator type
customer deployed
First seen
2022-02-07
ID
7462cd8b-6885-4b51-9fe8-548c42e2f47f

Timeline

  1. Feb 2022
    First recorded
    LaserWeeder first documented operating at Arvin.
  2. Jul 2026
    Current status: operational, reviewed
    Latest recorded state. New status transitions append here as the deployment-status recorder produces them.

On the deployment map

LaserWeeder operates in Arvin. Explore the full verified map:

Sources (1)

  1. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220207005189/en/Carbon-Robotics-Unveils-New-LaserWeeder-with-30-Lasers-to-Autonomously-Eradicate-Weeds · 2022-02-07
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-07-10

Verification posture

Verified

Low confidence

Review state

Stable

Last reviewed 2026-07-10

Maturity + lifecycle

Maturity stage: commercial

Lifecycle: active

Architectural position

Cohort: agriculture

Sources by quality tier

1
unclassified
Unclassified source

The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.

Methodology surface for LaserWeeder at Arvin.

Common questions

What is the LaserWeeder deployment at Arvin?
LaserWeeder, built by Carbon Robotics, is recorded as a deployment at Arvin on the DEPLOY registry. Carbon Robotics operates the deployment directly.
Who operates LaserWeeder at Arvin?
Carbon Robotics, the manufacturer of LaserWeeder, operates this deployment directly. This is a maker-deploys-its-own-product arrangement rather than a customer pilot.
When did the LaserWeeder deployment at Arvin go live?
The deployment is recorded as starting February 7, 2022 on the DEPLOY registry. Earlier activity may exist but is not yet sourced.
Have there been incidents at the LaserWeeder deployment at Arvin?
No active incidents affecting this deployment are recorded on the DEPLOY registry. Absence of recorded incidents is not a guarantee no incident occurred; DEPLOY records only sourced incidents and suppresses retracted ones.

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