E-Series vs Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot
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.Cambridge-built autonomous strawberry picker running commercially as picking-as-a-service — 50+ robots deployed in the UK and internationally, picking tabletop strawberries by night and day. Raised £14m in July 2026 to scale the fleet.
Best for: Tabletop strawberry growers on pipe rails (≥55 cm spacing) in the UK, Australia or California who cannot recruit seasonal pickers.| E-Series Verified 2026-07-17 | Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot Verified 2026-07-16 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Harvesting | Harvesting |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | Spain | United Kingdom |
| Availability | Pilot / limited | Available now |
| EU market | CE-marked | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-17 | 2026-07-16 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Electric-powered platform | Battery-electric · 8 h swappable Li-ion, ~400 W draw |
| Required tractor power | Self-propelled platform straddling raised beds | Not required (self-propelled on pipe rails/rows) |
| Dimensions | Not disclosed | 2.4 × 0.7 × 1.8 m |
| Weight | Not disclosed | 400 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Not disclosed | ~200 kg/day per robot · 80–90% extraction rate · machine-made waste <2.5% |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Short-range integrated colour + infrared depth sensors per arm; LiDAR; onboard GPUs for real-time ripeness assessment | Stereo vision picking arms · 5-camera onboard grading unit · onboard lighting for night work |
| 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 | Picking-as-a-service (RaaS); ~£30k/unit hardware figure reported but not a public list price |
| Ongoing cost | Not applicable (not commercially available) | Service contract per harvest season (terms not disclosed) |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Fruit contact during harvest Stem grip-and-cut picking — fruit placed in field containers without being touched · vendor | Picking labour Robot picks ~200 kg/day, up to 16 h with battery swap incl. night shifts · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not applicable yet — machine not placed on the market (manufacturer states not for sale) | No CE marking published — operates in UK (UKCA regime), AU and US |
| Machinery Regulation | Would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if commercialised | Not verified for EU market placement |
| CAP subsidy | Harvest automation — not directly tied to CAP eco-schemes | Not applicable — service not offered in the EU |
"—" 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.