Fieldwork Robotics Awarded £50,000 to Further Develop Fruit Picking Robot

Fieldwork Robotics Awarded £50,000 to Further Develop Fruit Picking Robot

Fieldwork Robotics have been awarded a grant of more than £50,000 towards a £100,000 project to further develop its autonomous robot.

The Histon-based business has been supported with a grant from the Eastern Agri-Tech Growth Initiative, an initiative run by the Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority.

Fieldwork Robotics have already developed an autonomous robot that is able to harvest fruit on and off rails and the business will use this new funding to speed up the robot’s route to market by investing in cost reduction and refining the motors in the robot’s arms.

The robot has already developed significantly since its launch in October 2018 with Fieldwork Robotics’ drive for continuous improvement resulting in several modifications and add-ons being made.

The business’ latest development project will create two new full-time engineering jobs and could be the catalyst for significant growth, across Europe.

Rui Andres, Chief Executive Officer at Fieldwork Robotics Said:

“The grant will allow us to create employment and focus on cost reduction. Without this grant we would probably have to wait more than 6 months before being able to allocate resources to such an important task.

“We will use the funding to not only maintain the current workforce but also create exciting opportunities for two additional employees.

“The grant will allow us to reduce the harvesting cost to a level that starts to become competitive with humans.”

James Palmer, Mayor of Cambridgeshire & Peterborough said:

“Robotic harvesting of soft fruit has the potential to be a real growth sector in the future and to have a Cambridgeshire & Peterborough based business at the forefront of this is very exciting.

“Fieldwork Robotics have developed a brilliant product and with support from the Eastern Agri-Tech Growth Initiative they will be able to further develop the product at pace.

“I am delighted the project is creating two new engineering jobs and am excited to see what the future holds for Fieldwork Robotics.”