https://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0710/c90000-20338586.html

A cotton laser topping robot jointly developed by Xinjiang University and Xinjiang Eavision Robotic Technologies Co., Ltd., integrates a solid-state LiDAR and vision fusion technologies for cotton plucking.

The robot demonstrated a 98.9 percent accuracy rate in identifying cotton apical buds, a plant damage rate of less than 3 percent, and a topping success rate exceeding 82 percent, with further improvements still possible. Once fully optimized, its operational efficiency is expected to reach 6 to 8 acres per hour—over 10 times faster than manual labor.

Compared to traditional mechanical cutting or chemical topping, laser topping is non-contact and non-damaging, significantly reducing harm to cotton plants and environmental impact. It also operates efficiently day or night.