WeedScan – Australia’s first computer-vision weed identification app is five months old and it’s growing!
Find out how you can support its vital effort.
First developed by CSIRO, the Atlas of Living Australia, the NSW, Queensland, South Australian and Victorian governments through the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, with funding from the Australian Government’s Landcare Program, this first-generation product includes 450 priority and other weed species linked to State weed management information.
In these early months, WeedScan 1.0 has had over 16,000 downloads and more than 5,000 weed records submitted.
Importantly, our analysis of these records confirms WeedScan’s AI model is 85% accurate where its AI Recognition Score is 90% or more. In other words, if the app identifies a weed with 90% confidence or above, its identification is correct 85% of the time.
This is a great result and shows the AI model works well for weeds it knows.
Funding towards a second generation of WeedScan will redress the 15% inaccuracy by adding up to 200 new weeds to the AI model, while also extending the app’s usefulness for a broader range of weed species nationwide.
WeedScan 2.0 is also slated for exciting new features for Landcare groups and community, producer or natural resource groups. WeedScan already offers a group function to make it easier and more efficient for group members to record, monitor and coordinate management information.
This digital platform for groups is also set for further development to reflect functionality offered by the Centre’s long-standing and successful FeralScan app product, which allows sharing and viewing of aggregated pest record charts and tables to inform action plans and resource deployment between group members.
New features will allow WeedScan group administrators to communicate with their group via email as well as notification scheduling so members know when a particular site needs to be treated: vital to get in front of weed spread.
With enough funds, a future iteration of WeedScan would allow WeedScan groups to be supported by pages of group record charts and tables showing member observations which can be exported to feed into the group’s weed action planning.
With WeedScan’s original grant now finished, this is your chance to contribute to the app’s growth and deployment of AI smarts to tackle Australia’s increasing weed burden.
The Centre’s Invasive Species Solutions Trust allows tax-deductible donations. Our fundraising target this financial year is $25,000, which the Centre will match.
Please consider donating today! https://invasives.com.au/donate/