Dogtooth’s fifth generation robot was featured in a recent Financial Times article. We are enormously proud to be a part of Dyson Farming ‘s efforts to produce sensational British strawberries this Christmas.
Polite Notice for Recruitment Agencies
We receive a great deal of interest from recruitment agencies, we do appreciate the desire to work with us. We advertise current job vacancies on our website to enable potential candidates interested in joining our team to connect directly with us.
When direct sourcing is not possible, we may opt to engage a recruitment agency from our preferred supplier list.
If you feel you have a candidate who fits the requirements outlined in a job advertised on our website, we kindly request that you send their CV for review exclusively to recruitment@dogtoothtech.com.
If we would like to discuss further with you, we will be in touch.
Thank you in advance.
Head of Electronics (ROLE NOW FILLED)
We are looking for a talented lead electronics engineer to head our electronics delivery, working as part of our exceptionally skilled and multi-disciplinary technology team. You will be responsible for (i) developing all electronic sub-systems used within our robots, including those for 3D imaging, sensor monitoring, safety management, and motor control, (ii) compliance with the relevant CE and EMC regulations as defined by our quality engineer, (iii) managing the electronics development process. (iv) managing the electronics roadmap
Duties & Responsibilities
- Oversee the electronics roadmap
- Manage electronics development projects
- Design new electronic sub-systems
- Own the electrical and electronics system design
- Mentor our talented junior electronics design engineer
- Run and develop our established release process
- Develop designs to scale manufacture
- Define quality plans for manufacturing handover
- Oversee outsourced contracts as necessary (e.g. PCB layout, EMC test houses)
- Meet CE requirements for EMC, electrical safety and operator safety with requirements defined by our quality and standards engineer
Desirable Experience & Characteristics
- Design for EMC, manufacture, and test
- Mixed signal circuit design, commissioning, and test
- Power electrical and motor drive
- Using EDA software (we use Eagle)
- Progressing designs to volume manufacture
- A high quality degree and >10 years of experience
- Project management experience essential.
- Excellent communication skills to communicate and understand interfaces with the many different disciplines in our robot
- Keenness to lead a discipline area
To apply, please send your C.V. and cover letter to Sarah Kersey at recruitment@dogtoothtech.com.
Dogtooth Bronze Winner of the Future of Food Competition 2024
We were thrilled to be one of 16 finalists, selected from over 100 entries across the UK, to participate in the inaugural Future of Food competition.
The competition brought together some of the country’s most innovative food and farming businesses, with each finalist invited to pitch their ideas live to a panel of industry experts and decision-makers at the historic Royal Geographical Society in London.
Future of Food Creator, Barney Mauleverer said, “The mega trends of the future – rising sea levels, shifting populations, threats to our economy, farming and climate, even space tourism are undeniable. But the food industry has a unique opportunity to lead the charge in solving these seismic shifts and crises. It’s incredibly inspiring to see so many young, up and coming innovators forging ahead.
Without the strength of big brands or budgets behind them, they’re making waves, pushing boundaries and showing the incredible talent this industry has to offer. That’s exactly what the Future of Food competition is here to celebrate: their passion, drive and game changing potential.
Dr Duncan Robertson, Founder & CEO of Dogtooth Technologies, leads a pioneering team that has spent eight years developing robots capable of harvesting delicate berry fruits as effectively as human pickers.
Well done to Duncan and the team on winning the Bronze Award!”
Dr Duncan Robertson on stage at the Royal Geographical Society.
Computer Vision 3D Model Provides A Detailed View Of Plant Geometry
Earlier this year, Dogtooth’s Software CTO Anders Johansson Associate Professor in Engineering Mathematics at Bristol University very much enjoyed working with Bristol Engineering student, Ben Winstanley. Ben used a state-of-the-art computer vision approach to create detailed 3D models of complex plant geometry.
This ability is central to our robot’s ability to pick delicate berry fruits without damage to other parts of the plant. Rather than grasping the body of the fruit, our robots work by gripping and cutting their stalks – an approach that helps to minimize cross contamination and bruising (and that Dogtooth has patented worldwide). For the robot to position its cut/grip end effector with sufficient precision, it must form detailed and accurate 3D models in real time.
Kent’s Growers Given Lesson in Robotic Fruit Picking
Dogtooth recently welcomed some members from Produced in Kent to a demonstration of robotic strawberry picking at a commercial farm in Kent. Members from a wide range of backgrounds enjoyed a presentation from our CEO Duncan Robertson outlining Dogtooth’s journey before seeing our robot fleet picking in the field.
Several generations of robots were on display, picking the everbearer crop highly effectively, as they do throughout the season. The first teams of fifth generation robots to be owned by farmers/growers will be delivered next year, which will be momentous for the soft fruit industry. Get in touch to find out more…
Dogtooth a Revolution in Farming Podcast
Our CEO Duncan Robertson was delighted to participate in this week’s episode of The FoodTalk Show with Susie Warran-Smith CBE DL and Oliver Lloyd – and to discuss Dogtooth’s on-going progress in the area of dextrous harvest automation.
Do listen in via the link below!
https://foodtalk.co.uk/podcasts/dogtooth-a-revolution-in-farming
Dogtooth Teams Up With Fitzbillies
Dogtooth has teamed up with the 100-year-old Cambridge bakery, Fitzbillies, who have crafted a delicious strawberry and cream bun as their summer special, made with strawberries picked by our harvesting robots. Nothing gets past our engineers without being tested. We can confirm that these buns have been thoroughly tested, and they are absolutely delicious! If you are local to Cambridge, these limited-edition buns are available at all Fitzbillies branches.
Graduate Mechanical Engineer (On Hold)
We are looking for an outstanding engineer to join our Mechanical Engineering team
and help bring exciting new technologies to market.
Overview of the role
Our hardware team sits at the core of making autonomous fruit picking commercially
possible – delivering the platform that bring our state-of-the-art machine learning into
the field reliably and at a cost. We constantly balance performance with cost, making
the appropriate trade-offs and de-risking key functionality early to hit our overall
targets.
The role promises a diverse and dynamic workload typical of a start-up environment,
encompassing everything from the initial development of concepts and hardware
prototyping to the design-for-manufacture of comprehensive whole-machine
subsystems.
A unique aspect of these positions is the opportunity to witness your
innovative ideas being brought to life on a grand scale. Although we’ve detailed a few desirable characteristics and qualifications as a guide below, we encourage you not to let this deter you from applying. Our primary interest lies in your attitude and your method of approaching problem-solving. We are a supportive team and will work hard to provide both exciting challenges and development/training opportunities where they’re needed. We welcome candidates from a range of backgrounds, education (apprenticeship and degree), and experience levels.
Duties and Responsibilities:
- Design, build and test prototypes with lead engineers
- Support our design Engineers with analysis
- Take on responsibility for projects delivering new functionality into our robot fleet from concept to scale
- Work with suppliers and manufacturing team to define SOPs, build documentation and appropriate quality control processes
Desirable characteristics:
- 0-5 years’ experience – we welcome applications from new graduates with relevant work or personal project experience.
- Strong pragmatic, first-principals approach to analytical problem solving.
- Completer-finisher approach – willingness to take responsibility for overall delivery as well as technical input, pulling in support for areas outside own area of expertise.
- Proficiency in the use of software to support analysis and design – MS Excel, MATLAB/Octave, etc. CAD software experience an advantage (will be using Autodesk Inventor).
- Ability to get stuck in with the team but also solve problems independently.
- Strong communication skills – ability to review ideas and decisions with the team, working with a wide range of stakeholders of varying technical experience.
- Ability to flex across various types of work – assembling and evaluating prototypes, designing mechanical assemblies, developing assembly SOPs, defining cable routings & drawings.
- Ability to prove out ideas pragmatically and practically in appropriate stages of the design process.
- GD&T, tolerance analysis & structural FEA would be beneficial.
Reference ID: DTMechEngineer
If you would like to apply for this role, please send your C.V. and cover letter
to recruitment@dogtoothtech.com
Dogtooth’s Robots Boost Productivity with Night-Time Picking
You will want to turn the sound up on this video!
It is the sound of a team of our fourth generation robots picking overnight in an otherwise deserted glasshouse. These robots have been operated for 16 hours a day throughout 2024 – including at night, when cooler conditions can sometimes help to prolong the shelf life of picked fruit. Now our next generation “Gen5” robots are capable of being used for up to 24 hours a day. Not only does this increase their productive output, but the flexibility of operating robots for one, two, or three eight-hour shifts helps our customers to cope with the peaks and troughs of production.
Welcome to Our New Team Members!
We are thrilled to welcome three outstanding new members to our team: Patrick Wiltshire, Alex Wheatley and Daniel Rutterford.
Patrick joins our Hardware team as Mechanical Design Engineer, bringing with him extensive experience in developing equipment for the construction and events industries. His passion for developing new and exciting products makes him a valuable asset as we continue to innovate and grow. Outside of work, Patrick enjoys driving (or fixing!) classic cars.
Alex, our new Standards and Compliance Engineer, comes to us with a strong background in quality assurance and regulatory compliance. His expertise in managing compliance processes for new high-tech products aligns perfectly with our commitment to delivering high-quality products. Alex is a passionate fan of live music and is also an enthusiastic table-top and miniatures gamer, fond of Euro-games and deck building.
Joining us as Manufacturing Engineer, Daniel Rutterford brings a wealth of knowledge from over 11 years of experience working in manufacturing and testing laboratories. His insights into process optimisation and cycle time reduction will undoubtedly help drive our efforts for continuous improvement. When not at work, Daniel enjoys cooking, home brewing, and spending time outdoors exploring with his partner and son.
Welcome aboard!
From the Polytunnel to the Palace!
Our strawberry harvesting robot made its royal debut this week at Hampton Court Palace for the 2023 Global Investment Summit. We were delighted to have been selected by the Department of Business and Trade to represent the UK’s nascent agri-robotics sector – and to have the opportunity to discuss our business with Oliver Dowden, Deputy Prime Minister, and Andrew Griffith MP Andrew Griffith, Minister of State for Science, Research, & Innovation. We were also rather pleased that our robot was placed next to some beautiful cars from Aston Martin Lagonda Ltd and McLaren Group, established British businesses that we love!