Prospr 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.
New Zealand-engineered autonomous spraying vehicle for orchards and vineyards, built by Robotics Plus (Tauranga, NZ) and sold/supported today through Yamaha Agriculture, formed when Yamaha Motor completed its acquisition of Robotics Plus in 2025. A hybrid diesel-electric drivetrain (Tier 4 generator + battery pack + independent wheel motors) drives RTK-GPS-guided autonomous spraying with quick-swap Q Series (foliar) and H Series (under-canopy herbicide) sprayers. Commercially deployed in the US, Australia and New Zealand; a published case study (Treasury Wine Estates, NZ) shows two units covering 300 ha of vineyard across eight 15-hour operating days.
Best for: Larger commercial orchard or vineyard operations in the US, Australia or New Zealand — the Treasury Wine Estates case study (two units, 300 ha, NZD 115,000/year net savings after subscription costs) shows the economics working at estate scale, backed by a real Yamaha Agriculture / Croplands / Burrows Tractor dealer network.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.| Prospr Verified 2026-07-19 | Thorvald Verified 2026-07-17 | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Task | Spraying | Spraying |
| Autonomy | Fully autonomous | Fully autonomous |
| Country of origin | New Zealand | 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 | Hybrid diesel-electric — Tier 4 diesel generator + regenerative braking + high-capacity battery pack, powering independent electric drive motors at each wheel | Battery-electric · 48 V Li-Ion 70 Ah (space for a second battery) · charges from a regular outlet |
| Required tractor power | Not required (self-propelled) — hybrid diesel-electric drivetrain, ~50 kW drive output | Not required (self-propelled modular platform) |
| Dimensions | 5,240 x 1,950 x 3,600 mm (206 x 77 x 141 in, L x W x H); minimum row spacing 1.85 m (6.07 ft); minimum headland 7.1 m (23 ft), spot-turns around the rear axle | Modular platform; configuration-dependent, not disclosed |
| Weight | 2,000 kg / 4,409 lb (unladen, without payload) | ~200 kg |
| Min farm size | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Productivity | 300 ha (740 ac) covered by two units across eight 15-hour operating days in the Treasury Wine Estates case study — about 1.3 ha/hr (3.2 ac/hr) per unit, up from 1 ha/hr (2.4 ac/hr) with a conventional tractor-mounted sprayer | Fleet-scale service: ~2,500 acres of US vineyard treated; ~20% of UK tabletop strawberry crop |
| Max speed | Not disclosed | Typically under 5 km/h in operation |
| Sensors | RTK GPS precision navigation; LiDAR + camera sensor fusion for obstacle detection and collision avoidance | Autonomous navigation stack; crop-counting cameras (up to 3 million crop counts per robot per night, vendor claim) |
| Price & model | ||
| Price (EUR) | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Native price | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
| Business model | Contact-sales / subscription-inclusive model — Yamaha Agriculture's own case study nets savings "after subscription costs" but no purchase price or subscription terms are published; sold direct and through the Yamaha Agriculture / Croplands (AU, NZ) / Burrows Tractor (US) dealer network. | UV-C treatment as a service — Saga deploys, operates and maintains robot fleets; growers pay for treatment rather than buying machines |
| Ongoing cost | Subscription-style cost referenced in published case studies but exact terms not disclosed; parts and preventative-maintenance kits supplied through the dealer network. | Service fee (not published); no grower-side machine ownership |
| Key outcome | ||
| Best verified result | Vineyard spraying work rate +34% · vendor | Fungicide use for powdery mildew −70–100% pesticide use (vendor claim) · vendor |
| EU context | ||
| CE marking | Not confirmed — no CE-marking evidence found; the product is not marketed or sold in the EU (deployment is US, Australia and New Zealand only) | CE status not published; UV-C units carry light-exposure safety interlocks for night operation |
| Machinery Regulation | Not applicable — no EU market presence found; would fall under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions if ever placed on the EU market | Placed on the EU/UK market by Saga Robotics; Regulation (EU) 2023/1230 autonomous-machine provisions apply |
| CAP subsidy | Not applicable — outside the EU, no CAP relevance; sold in the US, Australia and New Zealand only | 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.