Cyclair (Le Ribourgeon, 86460 Pressac, France) builds autonomous mechanical-weeding robots for open-field / grande culture. The company has developed an AI-plus-mechanical weeding solution since 2020 and was founded in 2019.
Specified from the start for large, irregularly planted fields. Working width 5.4 m. Hybrid thermal version: 40 h autonomy for distant parcel blocks without electric recharge. Weeding capacity 24 ha/day, aimed at client farms of 200–500 ha. Also listed: 80 kW and 80 L of GNR or B100. Electric or thermal motorisation; thermal compatible with B100. Optional precision / spot-spray for crops that cannot take 100% mechanical weeding. Inter- and intra-row mechanical weeding at 45–80 cm, intra-row possible, 300 ha polyculture capacity; tools named herse étrille, bineuse, plant-protection discs, and ridging discs. Compatible tools include BAC, Kress fingers, ridging discs, semi-flexible hoe, and flexible hoe. Human tool change 1–2 hours. Company weeding-rate claims: 97% by the 3rd or 4th pass depending on crop; elsewhere “désherbage à plus de 80%” with centimetre precision. Cylink cloud: task planning, weed-count reports, remote supervision. Certification is in progress under EU machine regulation 2023-1230, with a company claim that the robot will be authorised to remain alone in the fields without local human supervision from December 2026.
Navigation generates a path from the field edge without the grower drawing rows. Electric autonomy: 8 h or 8 ha. Thermal autonomy: 40 h or 40 ha. Testimonials name maize, sunflower, rapeseed, and work toward sugar beet; Lycée agricole de Venours is quoted. France 2030 funding is acknowledged.
Current crops named: maize, sunflower, rapeseed; cereals, open-field vegetables, and specialty crops planned. Markets: Western and Central Europe, North America, and Australia. Founded in Pressac, Vienne, by three partners (industry, robotics, agriculture). GS and GW models for open-field crops with row spacing 30–90 cm; mechanical weeding, AI vision, optional targeted spot-spray. Navigation: cameras and LIDAR identify rows and weeds and can operate without relying on GPS; only field boundaries required. Roadmap: electric weeding module, crop-health sensor, soil sensor. Cost-parity target versus chemical weeding of €35–€85/ha.
Also published: net weight 3,400 kg; dimensions 750 × 255 × 210 cm; max speed 5 km/h; wheel spacing adjustable 6.0–6.5 m; productivity up to 20 ha/day (about 1 ha/hour); 40 HP; min farm size 150 ha. In-row weeding precision down to 1 cm, when spacing exceeds 10 cm. Connectivity 3G/4G/5G + Starlink GPS RTK. Navigation: vision, LiDAR, GPS, Deep AI. Tools: mechanical weeding and spot-spray module. Business model: direct sales, distributors, and RaaS. Australia price indication AUD 151,000–250,000 (also printed as $151K to $250K); ongoing about AUD 10,000/year; estimated ROI AUD 200,000 after recovering the initial investment; input-cost savings about AUD 70,000/year. Commercial release date 2024; TRL 10; 0 to 10 units in service globally. Sales contact: Sebastien Gorry (service.commercial@cyclair.fr).
