In the Bor urban district of the Nizhny Novgorod region, tests of a ground-based robotic complex for hogweed control were conducted. The development was created by the Scientific and Production Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and the Pavlovsk enterprise "Korona".

The complex consists of two machines – a mulcher and a sprayer. They work sequentially: first, the mulcher clears a path through the thickets, then the sprayer moves along the prepared area and treats the territory with a special solution.

Control is remote – the operator can be up to 300 meters away from the treatment site. According to Korona company, one robot-mulcher processes up to 2 hectares per shift, and one robot-sprayer processes up to 25 hectares. For comparison: one operator manually processes an average of three hundred square meters per shift.

Maxim Cherkasov, Minister of Industry, Trade and Entrepreneurship of the region, noted that the NPTs BAS already has experience in treating fields from hogweed using agricultural drones. The new project complements these competencies with ground-based robotic technologies. According to him, this is the first project in Russia for remote treatment of territories from hogweed using ground equipment.