More details are emerging about a secretive Seattle startup led by Paul Mikesell, a University of Washington trained computer scientist who co-founded storage giant Isilon Systems in 2001. The company, called Maka Autonomous Robots (Maka-ARS), just closed a $8.9 million investment round from Seattle-area firm Ignition Partners and San Francisco-based Bolt. In an interview with GeekWire, Mikesell revealed that Maka is building intelligent robots for agriculture-related applications. One of its first devices is an autonomous robot for weed control; the machine can whack weeds without using herbicides or other chemicals — “that’s a really big deal,” Mikesell said.