Will UK viticulture be revolutionised by VR robotics? 

Despite a relatively small number of vineyards in the UK in comparison to other countries, viticulture is the country’s fastest-growing agricultural sector. Changes in weather and seasonal temperatures have driven production, with exports predicted to be worth as much as £350m by 2040. 

The Farming Innovation Programme, funded by Defra and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, aims to explore new ways to modernise different agricultural practices. 

As part of the Farming Futures Automation and Robotics competition, grant funding was awarded to 19 successful projects, announced by ministers during presentations at the recent Worldwide Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London. One of the projects will be delivered by Extend Robotics, a tech start-up combining consumer VR technology, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) to make it easier for people and machines to work together in perfect harmony.  

Robots to prune and harvest 

The project, called ‘Integrated Human-Augmented Robotics and Intelligent Sensing Platform for Precision Viticulture’ is a collaboration between Extend Robotics, Queen Mary University of London and Saffron Grange, an established producer of premium sparkling wine in East Anglia.  

Their combined expertise aims to develop AI-based solutions to enable the robotic automation of tasks such as pruning and harvesting. With a well-publicised shortage of seasonal workers affecting horticulture, which contains viticulture, the project aims to reduce reliance on this form of manual labour. 

This will reduce labour costs, while cutting emissions and the environmental impact of existing approaches. Ultimately, the company intends for the research project to significantly improve the productivity and sustainability of the UK viticulture industry. This will contribute to the growth of the UK economy and provide the UK a competitive edge in the global market. 

Exciting continuation  

Extend Robotics’ founder and CEO, Dr Chang Liu, said: “The viticulture industry in the UK may well be over 1,000 years old, but it has continually moved with the times. This is simply an exciting continuation of that progress. 

“Our technology will allow growers to remotely monitor crop health, identify potential issues early on, and take appropriate action. Using AI, they will then be able to automate general tasks and improve the efficiency of their operations over time, resulting in better overall crop quality and higher yields. We’re going to change the face – and future – of viticulture in the UK.”