Fieldwork Robotics

Fieldwork Robotics develops autonomous soft-fruit harvesting systems built for delicate, high-value crops like raspberries. Their lead platform, Fieldworker 1, combines four robotic picking arms, AI-enabled computer vision, 3D sensing, and machine-learning models that detect ripeness, identify fruit position, and optimize harvest timing. Designed for unstructured environments like polytunnels, the system handles soft fruit without damage and can operate as part of a supervised fleet, in which a single operator monitors multiple robots. The machine’s modular design allows it to adapt to different crop layouts, and its perception stack uses colour imaging, depth sensing, and spectral analysis techniques to minimize missed fruit and reduce waste.

The company’s primary commercial strategy is Harvesting-as-a-Service, a subset of hardware-as-a-service (HaaS). In this model, the company retains ownership of the robots and growers pay based on harvested output (typically per kilogram of berries). This converts seasonal labor costs into a predictable operating expense while reducing growers’ upfront investment. Fieldwork also offers direct robot sales for customers that prefer ownership, supported by recurring service and maintenance contracts. The company also plans to develop data and analytics subscriptions from harvested imagery and yield data, creating a future recurring software layer. This mix of service-based harvesting, optional CapEx ownership, and emerging data services positions Fieldwork as a hybrid HaaS business with a strong services backbone.