Development program
A staged, evidence-driven plan that keeps the Packager and HIVE workflows connected while prioritizing one fully functional Harvester prototype.
Prototype development sequence
Confirm representative strawberry bed, rut, canopy, irrigation, headland, weather, sanitation, and transport constraints.
Assemble the compact adjustable 4WD base, power system, steering, braking, communications, and independent safety controls.
Build the local sensor stack, plant identity, fruit detection, maturity assessment, obstacle protection, and recording pipeline.
Integrate two side-mounted arms, foliage handling, silicone grip, stem scissors, force limits, and cleaning procedures.
Validate indexed retail packages, weighing, defect handling, traceability, case identity, and the field trailer.
Deploy local fleet orchestration, charging, records, maintenance, package flow, and operator interfaces.
Demonstrate autonomous row navigation, perception, harvesting, inspection, weighing, package placement, and HIVE return.
Build the second robot against the proven case exchange, field path, and HIVE dispatch logic.
First funded deliverable
The Packager is co-developed at the architecture, interface, software, and workflow levels, but the first $500,000 program is accountable for delivering the Harvester prototype and the HIVE functions necessary to demonstrate it.