Fruit farm trial to test robots for harvest logistics

Robotic 'cobots' could help English soft fruit growers move harvested crops faster, ease labour pressure and reduce waste under a new Innovate UK-backed project.

The FLEXBOT project is bringing together industry experts to explore how collaborative logistics robots can be integrated into fruit farms.

Cobots are collaborative robots designed to work alongside people, supporting tasks such as moving fruit, equipment or supplies around the farm.

The project comes as fruit growers continue to face labour shortages, rising costs and pressure to maintain crop quality in a highly time-sensitive supply chain.

FLEXBOT, formally called Building a Flexible, Extensible Cobot Platform for Farmers, is being led by Antobot.

It also involves the University of Surrey, Dogtooth Technologies Ltd and the UK Agri-Tech Centre.

The project aims to improve labour productivity in English soft fruit farming by developing an autonomous cobot platform capable of carrying out logistics tasks on farm.

The project will test whether a flexible robot platform can work with different suppliers, support add-on technologies and provide a commercially realistic route into automation for small and medium-sized growers.

For soft fruit farms, reducing the time between picking and cooling could help protect shelf life, improve quality and reduce waste.

The project team said cobots could help growers make better use of expensive human labour, particularly during harvesting.

By using robots to support logistics, workers could be focused on higher-value tasks while crops are transported more efficiently.

The developers also say the technology could reduce reliance on small fossil-fuelled vehicles, helping to cut carbon emissions on farm.

FLEXBOT is also intended to give growers a more gradual route into automation.

Growers could add extra tools or services to the robot platform over time, allowing them to invest gradually rather than buying a complete system upfront.

Antobot will work with the UK Agri-Tech Centre, three British fruit farms and the University of Surrey as part of the project.

Four small innovative businesses will also be brought in to provide complementary technology, products and services that can be integrated into the cobot platform.

The project partners said this approach could help move the fragmented agri-tech sector towards more standardised mobile robot platforms.

They also hope the work will show how cobot technology could be adapted for other farm types in future.

Marc Jones, Business Director at Antobot, said the project comes at a critical time for growers.

“Antobot is proud to be advancing the FLEXBOT project with support from Innovate UK funding, accelerating the development of next-generation logistics robots for fruit farms, at a time when growers face increasing pressure from labour shortages, rising costs and tight production margins,” he said.

“This investment enables deeper collaboration with growers, researchers and technology partners to deliver practical automation that improves harvest efficiency, reduces labour pressure and helps protect crop quality through faster on-farm transport.

“For Antobot, the project strengthens our position as a leader in agricultural autonomy while building a scalable robotics platform that can support a wider ecosystem of applications.

“By the end of the project, we aim to demonstrate reliable, commercially viable logistics automation that boosts farm productivity and helps drive more resilient, sustainable food production in the UK and beyond.”

Dogtooth Technologies will use the project to support development of its outdoor robotic systems.

Dr Duncan Robertson, Founder and CEO at Dogtooth Technologies Ltd, said the company was already delivering fifth-generation dexterous strawberry-harvesting robots to glasshouse customers.

“Dogtooth is delighted to be participating in the FLEXBOT project alongside such strong consortium partners,” he said.

“Our company is already delivering fifth generation dexterous strawberry-harvesting robots to glasshouse customers, and now the FLEXBOT project will help us to meet the needs of polytunnel growers too by improving the autonomous navigation capabilities of the outdoor variant.

“Safe, reliable navigation on outdoor farms remains a critical challenge for the horticultural industry.

“Through FLEXBOT, Dogtooth will develop new technologies that build on our existing systems, increasing confidence in the use of automation in this demanding environment.

“Around 90% of our customers operate in outdoor polytunnel settings and this project will significantly accelerate the commercial rollout of dexterous harvesting robotics in this market.”

Researchers at the University of Surrey are contributing AI and robot vision expertise to the project.

Simon Hadfield, Professor of Robot Vision and Autonomous Systems at the University of Surrey, said researchers had developed CueBEV, an AI system that helps robots build a bird’s-eye view of farm environments.

“Within the project, researchers at the University of Surrey developed CueBEV; a new AI technique that creates accurate overhead maps for agricultural robots, by flexibly combining whatever visual cues or sensors are available, from simple cameras to stereo vision or even LiDAR,” he said.

“Instead of relying on a single source, it can merge depth, appearance and segmentation cues to build a clear bird’s-eye representation of fields, crops and obstacles.

“This flexibility makes CueBEV easy to adapt to different farm environments and robot platforms, while its ability to pick out small or moving objects (such as workers, animals or equipment) supports safer and more reliable automation in agriculture.”

The UK Agri-Tech Centre will focus on ensuring the technology meets growers’ commercial and environmental needs.

Deborah Whittaker, Data and Modelling Lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said the project was entering a new phase focused on quality engineering and a stronger product offer for growers.

“FLEXBOT is entering a new phase with an emphasis on quality engineering and an output of a strong product offering for growers,” she said.

“Alongside two of the leading agricultural robotics developers in the UK today, Dogtooth Technologies and Antobot, the UK Agri-Tech Centre is ensuring that the latest generation of products are designed from the outset to meet the needs of growers.

“We are utilising our expertise in sustainability modelling to understand what the product needs to be to meet the commercial and environmental requirements the sector demands.”

The partners say the project could give soft fruit growers a more practical and gradual route into automation as the sector looks to manage labour shortages, margins and environmental pressures.