Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot vs GRoW
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.Israeli dual-arm greenhouse robot that harvests vine tomatoes on pipe-rail systems using an AI 3D vision system, developed with Dutch greenhouse-tech partner Ridder. Running in Dutch greenhouses — validated at grower Lans in the 2025 NPPL-R trial by Wageningen UR (up to ~90% of eligible vines harvested, operator supervision still required) and picking ToBRFV-resistant varieties at Axia Vegetable Seeds' demo greenhouse.
Best for: Large Dutch-style vine-tomato greenhouses on pipe rails wanting to automate harvest labour, with tolerance for a validation-stage machine that needs supervision and a crop structure adapted to robotic picking.| Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot Verified 2026-07-16 | GRoW Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Harvesting | Harvesting |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | Israel |
| Availability | Available now | Pilot / limited |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| 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 | Electric, self-propelled on greenhouse pipe rails |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled on pipe rails/rows) | Not required (pipe-rail trolley platform) |
| Dimensions | 2.4 × 0.7 × 1.8 m | Not disclosed |
| Weight | 400 kg | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed (targets large commercial greenhouses) |
| Productivity | ~200 kg/day per robot · 80–90% extraction rate · machine-made waste <2.5% | WUR NPPL-R 2025: up to ~90% of vines meeting crop criteria harvested; cycle-time 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 3D vision system with high-resolution colour imaging for truss detection and ripeness |
| 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 | Direct from MetoMotion / via partner Ridder (NL); demo-request sales process, commercial terms not published |
| Ongoing cost | Service contract per harvest season (terms not disclosed) | 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 | Vine tomato harvest success (vines meeting crop criteria) ~90% harvest success · independent |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | No CE marking published — operates in UK (UKCA regime), AU and US | CE status not published; operates in Dutch commercial greenhouses |
| Machinery Regulation | Not verified for EU market placement | Placed on the EU market with partner Ridder; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — service not offered in the EU | Greenhouse 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.