Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot vs Fieldworker 1
Two harvesting machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
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.Cambridge/Plymouth-rooted raspberry harvesting robot with four soft picking arms and AI-enhanced 3D vision — spectral-frequency ripeness sensing removes human bias from pick decisions. Running a two-year harvesting-as-a-service programme with Place UK (Norfolk) and Littywood Farm (Stafford), backed by £3m funding; international trials planned in Portugal and Australia, commercial multi-robot fleets targeted from 2027.
Best for: Raspberry growers in the UK who want early access to soft-fruit harvest automation via a service programme rather than buying hardware.| Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot Verified 2026-07-16 | Fieldworker 1 Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Harvesting | Harvesting |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | United Kingdom |
| Availability | Available now | Pilot / limited |
| EU market | Pending | Pending |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-16 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Battery-electric · 8 h swappable Li-ion, ~400 W draw | Battery-electric (details not disclosed) |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled on pipe rails/rows) | Not required (self-propelled between rows) |
| Dimensions | 2.4 × 0.7 × 1.8 m | Not disclosed |
| Weight | 400 kg | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | ~200 kg/day per robot · 80–90% extraction rate · machine-made waste <2.5% | Designed to match human picker speed and quality; figures not published |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Stereo vision picking arms · 5-camera onboard grading unit · onboard lighting for night work | AI-enhanced 3D cameras · spectral-frequency ripeness sensing · machine learning pick selection |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Picking-as-a-service (RaaS); ~£30k/unit hardware figure reported but not a public list price | Harvesting-as-a-service (2-year programme with Place UK and Littywood Farm); no hardware list price |
| Ongoing cost | Service contract per harvest season (terms not disclosed) | Service contract terms not disclosed |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Picking labour Robot picks ~200 kg/day, up to 16 h with battery swap incl. night shifts · vendor | Ripeness assessment Spectral-frequency sensing removes human bias from ripeness analysis · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | No CE marking published — operates in UK (UKCA regime), AU and US | No CE marking published — UK (UKCA regime) pilots; Portugal trials planned, EU placement not verified |
| Machinery Regulation | Not verified for EU market placement | Not verified for EU market placement |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — service not offered in the EU | Not applicable — service not yet 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.