What Franklin Robotics does

Franklin Robotics, Inc. — now operating as Tertill Corporation — was a privately-held Massachusetts consumer robotics company founded in 2017 to develop and sell the Tertill Weeding Robot, a solar-powered autonomous device designed for chemical-free weed control in home vegetable gardens. The robot used sensor-based navigation and a mechanical whacker string to cut low-lying vegetation, while taller plants were protected by an included set of metal guards during their early growth stages. The product was designed by a team including Joe Jones, the inventor of Roomba, and was first commercialized via a Kickstarter campaign in 2017 before being deployed in thousands of gardens across the United States. The company held US Patent No. 10888045 and a registered Tertill trademark.

The business operated a direct-to-consumer model through its own e-commerce storefront at tertill.com, supported by a companion mobile app for iOS and Android and digital marketing across social media and email. Revenue was generated primarily through hardware sales of the robot and accessories (including a Whacker String Replacement Kit), with a minor Garden Fertilizer Subscription layer for recurring revenue. In 2022 the company rebranded from Franklin Robotics, Inc. to Tertill Corporation and subsequently discontinued the Tertill Weeding Robot, ending customer support and reducing operations to the sale of a limited number of accessories. The company was headquartered in North Billerica, Massachusetts, and at the time of the data was in a wind-down phase rather than fully ceased operations.

Name

Franklin Robotics

Legal name

Tertill Corporation

Website

https://franklinrobotics.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Franklin Robotics (now Tertill Corporation) was a Massachusetts-based consumer robotics company that launched the solar-powered Tertill Weeding Robot in 2017 via Kickstarter for home vegetable gardeners, but discontinued the product in 2022 and now sells only a limited set of accessories.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Consumer Robotics / Garden Equipment

NAICS

Lawn and Garden Tractor and Home Lawn and Garden Equipment Manufacturing (333112)

SIC

Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523)

akta.pro primary industry

Robotic Weeding & Mechanical Cultivation Systems (AFAAAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Robotics & Autonomous Field Operations (Weeding, Spraying, Harvest Assist, Autonomous Tractors) (AFAGALAJ), Robotic Implements, End-Effectors & Tooling (Grippers, cutters, weeding tools, smart implements) (AFAAAGAI), Agricultural & Field Robotics (HDAAAIAD)

Keywords

• Consumer robotics
• Garden weeding robots
• Autonomous lawn care
• Solar powered robots
• Home gardening automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Billerica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Hardware Sales: Franklin Robotics generated revenue primarily through the sale of Tertill Weeding Robots and related accessories. The company sold the main robot unit, replacement parts including Whacker String Replacement Kits, and potentially other garden accessories.
2. Garden Fertilizer Subscription Plans: The company offered Garden Fertilizer Subscription Plans as part of their service offerings, providing recurring revenue from existing customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Franklin Robotics (now Tertill Corporation) designed and sold the Tertill Weeding Robot, a solar-powered autonomous robot that navigates home vegetable gardens and uses sensors along with a whacker-string mechanism to prevent and remove weeds without chemical herbicides. The product was launched via Kickstarter in 2017 and deployed to thousands of gardens, but the company discontinued the robot in 2022 and now sells only limited accessories such as the Whacker String Replacement Kit through its e-commerce site. The company also offered Garden Fertilizer Subscription Plans and a companion mobile app for robot management.

Product overview

Franklin Robotics, now operating as Tertill Corporation, offered a focused product portfolio centered on the Tertill Weeding Robot — a solar-powered autonomous robot for chemical-free weed control in home vegetable gardens. The core product (Tertill Weeding Robot, Model T1) has been discontinued after its 2017 Kickstarter launch. Remaining offerings include replacement accessories (Whacker String Replacement Kit) and a companion mobile app for robot management. The company also offered Garden Fertilizer Subscription Plans and messaging services.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Tertill Weeding Robot (Model T1) Solar-powered autonomous weeding robot for home vegetable gardens that chemically-free prevents and removes weeds by navigating garden beds, sensing plant height, and cutting vegetation it encounters with a whacker-string mechanism. Targeted at home vegetable gardeners seeking hands-off, chemical-free weed control. The product has been discontinued as of 2022.
• Whacker String Replacement Kit Replacement accessory for the Tertill Weeding Robot containing 20 whacker strings and 2 whacker hubs to replenish the weed-cutting mechanism. Sold to existing Tertill owners to maintain ongoing functionality of the robot.
• Tertill App Free mobile application for Apple and Android that allows customers to manage their Tertill Weeding Robot, including naming the device. Targeted at existing Tertill robot owners for ongoing robot management.

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature3 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• iRobot: iRobot is the benchmark US consumer robotics company and the previous employer of co-founder Joe Jones (inventor of Roomba). Both companies build autonomous consumer robots for the home, making iRobot the most directly comparable talent-and-category peer.
• Husqvarna Group (Automower): Husqvarna is the dominant incumbent in autonomous residential yard-care robots via its Automower line. As an established robotic lawn-mower player at consumer scale, it is the most analogous outdoor-residential robotics incumbent to what Tertill aimed to be in the garden-weeding niche.
• John Deere (See & Spray): John Deere is the dominant agricultural machinery incumbent and has entered autonomous spraying/weeding with See & Spray. While it operates at commercial-farm scale, it competes with the same weeding-and-target-spray value proposition that Tertill championed at consumer scale.
• Stihl: Stihl is a global outdoor power equipment incumbent selling trimmers, robotic mowers (iMOW), and consumer gardening tools. It serves the same end buyer — home gardeners seeking mechanized, hands-off yard care — via broad retail and dealer distribution that Tertill lacked.

Emerging players

• Carbon Robotics: Carbon Robotics builds autonomous LaserWeeder robots for commercial agriculture using computer vision to identify and eliminate weeds. It directly parallels Tertill's core thesis — autonomous robotic weeding — but at the commercial-farm scale rather than home garden scale.
• FarmWise: FarmWise develops AI-driven agricultural weeding robots (e.g., the Titan) for row crops. It shares Tertill's robotic-weeding value proposition and autonomous-mechanical-removal methodology but targets commercial vegetable farms instead of home gardeners.
• Naio Technologies: Naio Technologies (France) produces autonomous agricultural weeding robots such as Oz, Dino, and Ted for vegetable farms and vineyards. It is a direct technological peer in mechanical/autonomous weeding robotics, though it serves professional rather than consumer gardeners.
• Ecorobotix: Ecorobotix builds precision spraying and weeding robots for row crops using computer vision and high-precision applicators. It is comparable to Tertill's chemical-free mechanical-weeding thesis and shares the autonomous field-robotics category.

Direct peers

• WORX (Landroid): WORX's Landroid robotic lawn mowers target the same DIY/residential outdoor-power-tools buyer as Tertill. Both compete for share of consumer spend on autonomous yard-care hardware via direct e-commerce and retail channels.

Others

• Garmin (yard-care is incidental): Garmin is not a direct competitor but is an example of a hardware company that successfully scaled a consumer electronics/IoT product via direct e-commerce and app-based control — a model and consumer engagement pattern similar to Tertill's website-plus-mobile-app approach.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/franklinrobotic
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/franklin-robotics

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Franklin Robotics