Why Agricultural Robots Struggle to Pick Strawberries

Tom Scott visited the Wilkin & Sons farm in Essex, England, to explore the advanced agricultural systems and innovative growing techniques behind their signature Tiptree Jams. Although UV-C treatment robots help protect the crops from disease, strawberry-picking robots still struggle to match humans at identifying ripe fruit and harvesting it quickly without damage.

We’re not even going to look inside the jam factory itself. This is a story about mechanisation and infrastructure and why it’s really difficult for a robot to pick strawberries.