Soft Fruit Robotics Project Targets Labour Efficiency Gains For UK Growers

A new industry-led project aims to help UK soft fruit growers tackle labour pressures and improve operational efficiency through the use of collaborative logistics robots, or ‘cobots’. 

Known as FLEXBOT (Building a Flexible, Extensible Cobot Platform for Farmers), the initiative brings together agricultural robotics specialist Antobot, Dogtooth Technologies, the University of Surrey, and the UK Agri-Tech Centre. 

The project, which will be trialled with three British fruit farms, is supported by Innovate UK funding and focuses on developing autonomous logistics solutions for commercial fruit farms.

The consortium’s goal is to create a flexible robotic platform capable of undertaking a range of on-farm transport and logistics tasks that help growers to reduce labour requirements and improve productivity and profitability.

The partners expect FLEXBOT to demonstrate how logistics automation can help create more resilient and sustainable fruit production systems, while supporting the wider adoption of robotics across UK horticulture.

A Critical Moment

As part of the project, lead developer Antobot will demonstrate how autonomous logistics systems can operate across multiple suppliers’ technologies. 

It will also explore a sustainable business model for small and medium-sized growers, and establish a logistics cobot platform that can be expanded as farm requirements evolve.

Antobot and its partners will work with four innovative technology providers to integrate complementary tools and services into the platform.

According to the consortium, FLEXBOT aims to address the fragmented nature of agri-tech development between tech providers and end users. 

By promoting greater interoperability and standardisation, the partners hope to accelerate the deployment of practical robotic solutions on commercial farms. 

Developing next-generation logistics robots comes at a critical time for fruit growers, who face labour shortages, rising costs, and increasingly tight margins, according to Marc Jones, Business Director at Antobot. 

“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,” Jones stated.

“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,” he added. 

Bringing Together Tech and Expertise

Dogtooth Technologies, which is already commercialising robotic strawberry harvesters, will focus on improving autonomous navigation capabilities for outdoor farming environments.

Founder and CEO Dr Duncan Robertson said safe and reliable navigation remains one of the biggest challenges for horticultural robotics operating in polytunnel systems. 

“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,” Dr Robertson revealed.

Researchers at the University of Surrey, meanwhile, are contributing a new AI mapping system called CueBEV, which generates detailed overhead maps for agricultural robots by combining information from cameras, stereo vision, and even LiDAR sensors. 

The technology is designed to improve navigation and obstacle detection, helping robots to operate safely around workers, equipment, and livestock.

“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,” explained Simon Hadfield, Professor of Robot Vision & Autonomous Systems at University of Surrey.

Meanwhile, the UK Agri-Tech Centre is providing sustainability and commercial modelling expertise to ensure the technologies being developed meet growers' operational and environmental requirements.

Deborah Whittaker, Data & Modelling Lead at the UK Agri-Tech Centre, said the project is entering a phase focused on engineering robust solutions that deliver clear value for growers. 

“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,” Whittaker emphasised. 

“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,” she added.