Harvest CROO Robotics Receives Grant for Strawberry Picking UAS
Harvest CROO Robotics will receive a grant from the National Science Foundation worth up to $1 million, that will help the company research and continue developing an autonomous strawberry picking UAS.
The prototype of the platform was created three years ago, and its essential goal is to improve the quality of strawberries picked, as the UAS is designed to only pick ripe strawberries while leaving unripe ones unharmed. The other goals of the UAS are to reduce energy usage and increase strawberry yields by at least 10 percent.
“We are very excited and honored to be awarded the SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) Phase I grant,” said Mark Brown, CFO of Harvest CROO Robotics. “Especially since only a small number of businesses that apply are funded.”
Gary Wishnatzki, co-founder of Harvest CROO Robotics and owner of Wish Farms, added, “this generous grant helps us move the project forward. Working, in the field, with the mobile platform this strawberry season will allow us to analyze results and develop improvements.”
The grant will be delivered in two phases. The first phase of the funding will provide $225,000 so that the company can research and develop software and hardware tools to operate a team of the UAS, in an effort to meet the requirements of a robotic strawberry harvester that is commercially feasible.
The grant is also expected to help bring new staff members on board who can help with the company’s efforts of building the best system possible.
