Fieldworker 1 Autonomous Raspberry Harvesting Robot

Fieldwork Robotics Ltd is a UK company based at Cambridge Innovation Park, with a registered office in Exmouth, Devon, and subsidiaries in Porto Salvo, Portugal, and Queensland, Australia. It is developing what it describes as the first autonomous raspberry harvesting robot, responding to high labour costs and picker shortages that the company says leave up to 30% of soft fruit crops unpicked.

Its robots are selective, adaptive and modular, with four picking arms guided by AI-enhanced 3D cameras, sensors and machine learning that locate ripe berries and pick them at roughly the same speed and quality as human pickers. The latest model, Fieldworker 1, was developed in collaboration with grower Costa Group. Fieldwork works with Burro and Dynium on autonomous vehicles that carry the system through polytunnels, and growers named on its site include The Summer Berry Company, Hall Hunter and Lusomorango.

• Four picking arms: multiple arms work in parallel to harvest ripe raspberries.
• AI-enhanced 3D vision: cameras, sensors and machine learning locate and assess berries.
• Selective picking: picks only ripe fruit at a quality comparable to human pickers.
• Modular design: the robot adapts to different growing setups and can be carried by partner vehicles.
• Partner carriers: collaborations with Burro and Dynium for autonomous movement through polytunnels.
• Grower co-development: Fieldworker 1 developed with Costa Group, with research partners in the UK and Portugal.

Berry farms in Da Lat growing raspberries or blackberries under polytunnels can pilot robotic picking during peak harvest. Agribusinesses developing new high-tech berry zones can design rows compatible with autonomous carriers. Research institutes can collaborate with Fieldwork on adapting picking algorithms to local berry varieties.

Robotic picking gives growers labour reliability when seasonal pickers are scarce, reducing the share of fruit left unharvested. Fieldwork positions the service around a predictable pick cost per berry, helping growers plan margins. Harvesting at similar speed and quality to people lowers waste and harvesting costs. Interoperability with autonomous carriers from partners adds flexibility in existing polytunnels.

Soft fruit growers in Europe, Australia and the US depend on migrant pickers whose availability and cost are increasingly uncertain, pushing interest in robotic harvesting. In Vietnam, high-value berry and strawberry production in Lam Dong is growing for domestic retail and export, and labour-intensive picking is a key cost that future harvesting robots could address.

UK company number 10432153, registered office in Exmouth, Devon; base at Cambridge Innovation Park with subsidiaries in Portugal and Australia. Received £3 million in investment and grants, a £600k DEFRA and Innovate UK grant for the BerryAI project, a ReFED Catalytic Grant and investment from August One and SEED Innovations (2026). Named a WIRED Trailblazer for 2024.