E-Series vs Compact S9000
Two harvesting machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
Spanish robotic strawberry harvester from Huelva with up to 24 independent picking arms that grip and cut the stem so fruit is never touched, guided by colour/infrared depth sensors and LiDAR. A long-running pioneer (field work in Huelva and California, early Driscoll's trials) — but Agrobot itself still labels the E-Series pre-commercial and 'not for sale, project on development' as of 2026, with thin recent public evidence of commercial deployments.
Best for: Watching, not buying — large strawberry growers tracking robotic harvest maturity; Agrobot remains one of the longest-running dedicated strawberry-harvest programmes in Europe.Dutch selective white-asparagus harvesting robot from AvL Motion (Westerbeek, NL) — a diesel-electric, self-propelled platform that uses optical RGB/AI plus underground spear detection across 12 rotating harvest modules to locate and cut ripe stalks in the row. Vendor marketing repeatedly calls it "autonomous", but the manufacturer's own spec table and FAQ both confirm one operator must be present in the field to direct the robot via remote control and collect the harvested spears — so it is classified here as assisted, not autonomous. Second- generation model, in commercial development since 2017 and launched 2021; the manufacturer's own product page is live and actively soliciting demo requests as of July 2026.
Best for: White-asparagus growers farming above the manufacturer's own stated profitability threshold (roughly 10 ha) who want to cut peak-season hand-picking labour while keeping one on-site operator directing the robot through each row.| E-Series Verified 2026-07-17 | Compact S9000 Verified 2026-07-19 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Harvesting | Harvesting |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | AI-assisted |
| Country of origin | Spain | Netherlands |
| Availability | Pilot / limited | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-19 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Electric-powered platform | Diesel-electric — 25 kW 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine (Stage 5) driving a 20 kVA electric power-distribution system; the manufacturer states the harvest mechanism itself runs fully on electricity (no hydraulics) and is "hybrid-ready" |
| Required tractor power | Self-propelled platform straddling raised beds | Not applicable — self-propelled platform, no tractor required |
| Dimensions | Not disclosed | 6 m long x 2.36 m wide x 2.93 m tall; turning radius 4.5 m |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 4,500 kg operational weight (manufacturer spec table) |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Manufacturer states the robot is "on average profitable from 10 hectares"; single-unit field capacity is 15 ha total |
| Productivity | Not disclosed | Up to 9,000 stalks/hour harvesting rate; field capacity 5 ha/day, 15 ha total per unit (each bed harvested roughly every 3 days) |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | 3.6 km/h (1 m/s), both travel and harvesting |
| Sensors | Short-range integrated colour + infrared depth sensors per arm; LiDAR; onboard GPUs for real-time ripeness assessment | Optical RGB combined with AI, plus underground/subsurface spear detection |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Not for sale — pre-commercial development programme; historical trials with growers in Huelva/Badajoz (ES) and Oxnard/Watsonville (California), including early Driscoll's trials | Direct sale from AvL Motion (Westerbeek, NL); price on request, not published on the manufacturer's site or found in independent coverage. Belgium/Luxembourg availability was claimed in early-2023 third-party listings but is not confirmed at the manufacturer, so it is not listed here. One operator must be present in the field to direct the robot via remote control and collect harvested spears; the robot itself autonomously navigates the bed and executes harvesting once directed. |
| Ongoing cost | Not applicable (not commercially available) | Not disclosed — no published service or subscription costs found on the manufacturer's site. |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Fruit contact during harvest Stem grip-and-cut picking — fruit placed in field containers without being touched · vendor | — No verified outcome |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not applicable yet — machine not placed on the market (manufacturer states not for sale) | Not disclosed — no CE-marking statement found on the manufacturer's site or in independent coverage |
| Machinery Regulation | Would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if commercialised | Not disclosed — no explicit compliance statement found; the autonomous-navigation/remote-operated cutting functions would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 if placed on the EU market |
| CAP subsidy | Harvest automation — not directly tied to CAP eco-schemes | Harvest automation — not directly tied to CAP eco-schemes |
"—" means the manufacturer has not disclosed the figure; we never estimate silently. Model either machine's payback with your own numbers on its ROI calculator page.