Thorvald Autonomous UV-C Crop Protection Robot

Saga Robotics grew out of a 2014 master's project at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and launched in 2016 with the Thorvald II platform. Registered in Norway with offices in Oslo, Lincoln and Yalding in the UK, and Paso Robles in California, it offers autonomous electric robots that control fungal diseases such as powdery mildew with UV-C light instead of chemicals.

Thorvald drives autonomously along grapevine rows and tabletop strawberry tunnels at night, applying UV-C treatment that disrupts mildew. Two onboard cameras scan each row during treatment, counting flowers and fruit and tracking ripeness, and the counts are delivered automatically every four days for yield planning. Saga sells the treatment as a commercial service to growers. More than 150 robots operate commercially, with 97% uptime reported, and customers include Bien Nacido Vineyards, Bonterra Organic Estates, Angus Growers and Berry Gardens.

• UV-C disease control: treats powdery mildew and other fungal diseases with light instead of chemicals.
• Night-time autonomy: drives rows of vineyards and strawberry tunnels without a driver.
• Crop counting: two cameras count flowers and fruit, up to 3 million counts per robot per night.
• Ripeness tracking: delivers counts and ripeness data automatically every four days.
• Modular Thorvald platform: lightweight electric base with a swappable Dual-axis Drive module for greenhouses, polytunnels and open fields.
• Service delivery: Saga runs treatment as a commercial service with local teams in the UK and US.

Strawberry greenhouse farms in Da Lat can use UV-C robots to control powdery mildew while meeting low-residue standards. Grape producers in Ninh Thuan can reduce fungicide sprays and track fruit counts for harvest planning. Export-oriented berry companies can combine treatment and yield data in one robot service.

Saga reports a 70 to 100% reduction in pesticide use in grapevine and strawberries. UV-C treatment leaves no chemical residue, supporting organic and low-residue production. Automated flower and fruit counts every four days give growers yield and ripeness data without extra labour. Operating as a service, Thorvald spares growers from buying and maintaining the robot fleet.

Retailers and regulators are pressing growers to cut pesticide residues, while fungal disease pressure and labour shortages raise costs for berry and grape producers. In Vietnam, strawberry farms in Lam Dong and grape growers in Ninh Thuan face heavy mildew pressure in humid seasons, creating interest in chemical-free disease control and crop data.

Launched in 2016 from research at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences; registered in Norway. Offices in Oslo, Lincoln, Yalding and Paso Robles. Investor backing in 2020 enabled commercial scale. By end-2025 it treated about 20% of UK tabletop strawberries and nearly 1,300 acres of US grapevines. Caine Thompson became US General Manager in January 2026.