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LONDON (Alliance News) - Frontier IP Group PLC on Tuesday said portfolio company Fieldwork Robotics has completed initial field trials of its robot raspberry harvesting system.
The AIM-listed investor holds a 27.5% interest in Fieldwork Robotics, which was awarded a GBP547,250 Innovate UK grant earlier this year to develop a multi-armed robot prototype.
Frontier IP provides Fieldwork Robotics with support for engineering and software development, fundraising and industry partnerships.
The trials were held in West Sussex at a farm owned by Fieldwork Robotics' industry partner, UK soft-fruit grower Hall Hunter Partnership. Hall Hunter supplies Marks & Spencer Group PLC, Tesco LPC and Waitrose.
The company explained that fieldwork is focused initially on raspberries because they are hard to pick, more delicate, more easily damaged than other soft fruits, and grow on bushes with complex foliage and berry distribution. Once the system is proved to work with raspberries, it can then be adapted readily for other soft fruits and vegetables.
Frontier IP said its investee intends to use data from the trials to refine and improve the prototype system before further field trials are held later this year. If the trials are successful, then manufacturing of a commercial system is expected to begin in 2020, Frontier IP said.
"Completing these field trials is an important milestone in commercialising the technology, and we are looking forward to the next round of tests in the autumn," said Chief Executive Neil Crabb.
Frontier IP shares were untraded on Tuesday, last closing at 81.50 pence each.