Oscar vs Thorvald
Two spraying machines, one verified table. Every figure below is sourced and dated; vendor claims are labelled and kept apart from independent results.
French autonomous field robot from Osiris Agriculture (Illies, Hauts-de-France; founded 2021) that self-navigates row crops via RTK-GNSS and delivers precision irrigation plus fertigation — nitrogen/potassium dosed into the water — through a foldable boom, generating its own electricity from the water flow as it runs (solar, diesel-generator or battery backup when off-water). Commercially sold since 2025 in northern France through distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation; Osiris itself lists crop-protection spraying as a future capability, not a current one.
Best for: Large-scale potato and vegetable growers in northern France (or similar row-crop regions) who already run hose-reel/boom irrigation and want to automate it while adding fertigation — the distributor cites roughly 25 ha as the economic break-even.Norwegian autonomous UV-C robot that replaces fungicide sprays for powdery mildew control — working at night in UK tabletop strawberries (used by 13 leading growers, around 20–30% of the national tabletop crop) and California vineyards, where over 150 Thorvald 3.0 units ran the 2025 season. Delivered as a service rather than a machine sale, with a vineyard-specific model launched for 2026.
Best for: Larger tabletop strawberry and wine-grape operations in Saga's service regions (UK, US) wanting to cut fungicide programmes without buying or operating robots themselves.| Oscar Verified 2026-07-19 | Thorvald Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | France | Norway |
| Availability | Available now | Available now |
| EU market | Pending | CE-marked |
| Lead time | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Last verified | 2026-07-19 | 2026-07-17 |
| Specifications | ||
| Power source | Electric — onboard water-turbine generator produces power from the irrigation flow itself; solar panels, a diesel generator, or batteries back it up when not connected to a water source | Battery-electric · 48 V Li-Ion 70 Ah (space for a second battery) · charges from a regular outlet |
| Required tractor power | Not required for operation (self-propelled); road transport between fields via tractor tow, with regulatory approval for that still pending per one source | Not required (self-propelled modular platform) |
| Dimensions | 5.08 m long x 3.05 m wide x 3.43 m high; foldable boom extends to 40-44 m depending on configuration (sources vary between 24-40 m and up to 44 m) | Modular platform; configuration-dependent, not disclosed |
| Weight | 12,000 kg | ~200 kg |
| Min farm size | Roughly 25 ha (economic break-even point cited by French distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation) | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | Roughly 25-40 ha irrigated per week (sources vary), applying about 20-30 mm of water per week; water flow up to 60 m3/h | Fleet-scale service: ~2,500 acres of US vineyard treated; ~20% of UK tabletop strawberry crop |
| Max speed | 100-250 m/h field travel speed | Typically under 5 km/h in operation |
| Sensors | RTK-GNSS plus inertial measurement unit for centimetre-level autonomous navigation; onboard cameras for plant growth and soil-moisture monitoring | Autonomous navigation stack; crop-counting cameras (up to 3 million crop counts per robot per night, vendor claim) |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | €250,000 | Not disclosed |
| Native price | €250,000 | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Direct purchase; base price ~€250,000 HT (excl. tax), indicative €200,000- 300,000 range reported depending on configuration (wheel count, boom width, hose length, tyres, guidance system) — versus roughly €100,000 HT for a traditional hose-reel-with-boom irrigator. Sold in northern France through distributor Verhaeghe Irrigation (Montdidier, Somme); Osiris Agriculture also sells and demonstrates directly. | UV-C treatment as a service — Saga deploys, operates and maintains robot fleets; growers pay for treatment rather than buying machines |
| Ongoing cost | Not disclosed — no published subscription, per-hectare service fee, or consumables schedule found beyond the buyer-configured hardware options at purchase. | Service fee (not published); no grower-side machine ownership |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Water use vs. conventional hose-reel/cannon irrigation ~-30% (vendor commitment) · vendor | Fungicide use for powdery mildew −70–100% pesticide use (vendor claim) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — no explicit CE-marking statement found on the manufacturer site or in trade press. Osiris is reported to be developing separate "autonomy certification" to run the robot without an on-site supervisor, implying current commercial operation is supervised. | CE status not published; UV-C units carry light-exposure safety interlocks for night operation |
| Machinery Regulation | Placed on the French/EU market commercially since 2025; would fall under the autonomous-machine provisions of Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, but no explicit compliance statement was found in the sources checked. | Placed on the EU/UK market by Saga Robotics; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Precision water and fertiliser dosing could support CAP eco-scheme water-efficiency measures; no direct CAP linkage has been published by Osiris. | Large pesticide reduction supports EU pesticide-reduction and eco-scheme goals (service currently UK/US/NO, not EU-27) |
"—" 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.