Fieldwork Robotics, a developer of selective, adaptive and modular harvesting robots, has signed a collaboration agreement with Burro, a manufacturer of autonomous and collaborative mobile robot platforms.
Raspberry growers are particularly impacted by the significant and growing labour crisis affecting the agricultural sector.
As cost of labour grows driven by minimum wage increases and availability of labour remains pressured, growers are looking towards innovation to mitigate against labour cost headwinds and against the inevitable greater challenge of seasonal worker availability in the future.
However, even when growers are keen to integrate robotics into their harvesting practice to try and abate increasing costs, they face problems with initial cost of equipment and lack of compatibility between different technologies.
Interoperability between different kinds of technology is an essential step in ensuring farmers and growers can integrate robotics into their operations in a way that is efficient and cost effective for them.
The Fieldworker 1: Interoperable and base agnostic
The working partnership has produced a base agnostic payload that can run on multiple bases,
including Burro’s, providing farmers with an affordable, efficient and interoperable solution to their harvesting needs.
The payload of the Fieldworker 1 seamlessly integrates with other autonomous robots, and this interoperability has been developed and demonstrated in partnership with Burro.
Other compatible brands include OxDrive, specialists in the design and manufacture of robust,
integrated, electric drives.
Interoperability of technology is a huge advantage to growers and will afford Fieldwork’s customers greater flexibility and lower operating costs.
David Fulton, Fieldwork Robotics CEO, says: “Burro is the perfect partner for Fieldwork as we continue to develop our product offering. The team’s expertise in autonomous agricultural robots has been an invaluable addition as we continue to develop.
“This collaboration is a significant milestone for us, and we look forward to delivering an enhanced service to our customers.
“Fieldwork has recently released its updated autonomous raspberry-harvesting robot which has
benefitted from Burro’s expertise. A collaboration with an excellent partner like Burro serves to significantly strengthen our first-mover advantage.”
Fieldwork x Burro: an industry-leading partnership
Burro is a leading developer of fully autonomous robotic platforms. Their model incorporates machine learning, high precision GPS and “Pop-Up Autonomy” to create a high-quality autonomous platform that transports produce from A to B around the field.
Like Fieldwork, Burro’s technology is designed to enhance agricultural work and support growers struggling with a lack of available labour.
Burro has recently raised a $24 million Series B funding round and has strong platform success across Fieldwork’s target markets, making them an ideal partner for the company.
Charlie Andersen, Burro CEO, says: “Fieldwork’s technology is truly world class. It has been a pleasure to work with David and the team as they developed their technology.
“Our combined expertise in robotics and automation facilitated an interactive and highly effective partnership. We’re excited to see where our partnership with the company takes us next, and our customers are hugely excited about their solution to autonomous harvesting.”
Field trial success
The Fieldworker 1, run on Burro’s base, has successfully completed field trials at Place UK, a grower of Driscoll’s berries. The robot is currently on track to partake in field trials with leading berry grower, Costa Group, on its Australian farms in 2025.
Dan Yordanov, head of Fresh at Place UK, says: “Seeing Fieldwork’s technology operating in the field has been fascinating.
“We were very pleased to work with David and the team to test the Fieldworker 1 at Place UK and we are confident that it will be an invaluable harvesting solution to growers in the future.”
