Prototype agribot promises to cut costs and tackles labour shortages

Essex University has been working with jam makers Wilkin & Sons to test the new prototype, which could help tackle a labour shortage in the industry.

Existing crop-picking robots cost on average around £150,000 but if successful, the new prototype will cost around £10,000.

Funded by a £1.02m grant through the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ flagship Farming Innovation Programme, the project has seen the low-cost robot tasked with picking strawberries from one of Wilkins and Sons’ vertical farms in Tiptree.

The robot can pick a strawberry in 2.5 seconds and is based on a previous prototype which has been successfully trialled for the last two seasons.

According to Essex University, the modular architecture can be adapted to other crops, with robotic harvesting trials planned with onions, tomatoes and lettuce.

Dr Vishwanathan Mohan and Professor Klaus McDonald-Maier, both from Essex’s School of Computer Science and Electronic Engineering, have helped design and build the robot.

In a statement, Dr Mohan said: “Through this project we want to transform how food is grown efficiently using robotics and AI, and make state-of-the-art agri-robotics technologies accessible to everyone.

“Even if smaller farms and businesses can afford a robot, you need a whole fleet of them to make a difference, so it is vital we find cost-effective alternatives to help the agricultural industry.

“At the same time robotics is a game changer to tackle some of the critical challenges facing us – food security, labour security, climate and energy.”

The prototype picks strawberries using a robotic arm, then weighs each one before placing it in packaging. It is hoped the project will reduce the repetitive, labour-intensive process of crop picking, and extend the shelf-life of produce by speeding up the packaging process.

Chris Newenham, joint managing director of Wilkin & Sons, said: “Wilkin & Sons are once again delighted to partner with Essex University in tackling what is currently the most significant challenge for our industry.

“Our experience from our initial work with the institution is that these challenges are inordinately complex and take time, it is work which is definitely not for the faint hearted but we are confident that we are working with the very best partners and very much looking forward to seeing the fruits of our collective labours over the coming years.”