Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot vs FAR Flying Autonomous Robots
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 tethered flying robots that pick tree fruit — apples, peaches, nectarines, apricots, plums and pears — with AI vision selecting only ripe fruit and logging weight, colour and geolocation per fruit. Commercially harvesting with Rivoira Group in Italy, HMC Farms in California/Washington and Unifrutti in Chile, primarily as picking-as-a-service paid per harvested tonne; machine purchase offered since late 2023. Raised an $18M Series C in March 2026 with Kubota among investors.
Best for: Large orchard operations (apples, stone fruit, pears) in Tevel's active regions wanting to replace scarce seasonal picking crews with a per-tonne harvest service that also delivers per-fruit data.| Gen 5 Strawberry Harvesting Robot Verified 2026-07-16 | FAR Flying Autonomous Robots Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Harvesting | Harvesting |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom | Israel |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| 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 — tethered drones powered and coordinated from a mobile ground platform |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled on pipe rails/rows) | Ground platform moves through the orchard; drones are platform-tethered |
| Dimensions | 2.4 × 0.7 × 1.8 m | Not disclosed |
| Weight | 400 kg | Not disclosed |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed (deployments are large commercial orchards) |
| Productivity | ~200 kg/day per robot · 80–90% extraction rate · machine-made waste <2.5% | 24/7 harvesting capability; per-unit picking rate not disclosed |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Sensors | Stereo vision picking arms · 5-camera onboard grading unit · onboard lighting for night work | AI computer vision per drone — ripeness, size, colour grading and disease detection on each fruit; per-fruit weight and geolocation logging |
| 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 | Primarily harvesting-as-a-service on multi-year plans, paid in €/tonne pegged to direct picking labour cost; revenue shared with regional service partners. Direct purchase offered since Q3 2023. |
| Ongoing cost | Service contract per harvest season (terms not disclosed) | Per-tonne service fee (rates not published) |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Picking labour Robot picks ~200 kg/day, up to 16 h with battery swap incl. night shifts · vendor | Total harvesting cost −20–30% total cost (vendor claim) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | No CE marking published — operates in UK (UKCA regime), AU and US | CE status not published; operating commercially in Italian orchards with Rivoira Group |
| Machinery Regulation | Not verified for EU market placement | EU deployments via service partners; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply, drone elements may engage additional EU rules |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — service not offered in the EU | 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.