Fruit-picking robot wins national award

The University of Essex (UoE) has won a national award for its robots, designed to ease the strain for the harvesting industry.

In October 2024, the university's robotics team announced what they described as a "game changer" prototype that could pick, weigh and package strawberries in seconds, reports BBC.

On Wednesday evening, UoE's Sustainable smArt Robotic Agriculture initiative won the award for best research project (industry collaboration) at the AI & Robotics Research Awards 2026.

Co-designer Dr Vishwanathan Mohan said the award recognised their vision to transform how food was produced in the face of modern farming challenges.

The robots are already being used to pick strawberries for Wilkin & Sons, the globally renowned producer of jam based in Tiptree near Colchester.

It is also being used by the growing company JEPCO at its farm in Thorrington, which is close to the university's campus.

The award citation said the robots utilise AI to automate "repetitive, labour-intensive tasks", while "increasing yield, minimising wastage, carbon footprint and sustaining local production".