Author: Candy McGrevy

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!”

www.futureoffood.org.uk

Dr Duncan Robertson on stage at the Royal Geographical Society.

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.

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.

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!

This interesting documentary feature was created by Freethink, who approached us late 2022 to appear in their series, “Hard Reset” which focuses on companies and people taking revolutionary approaches to help solve the world’s biggest challenges.

We had the pleasure of welcoming Director Nick Tucker and his film crew to our facility in October to take a closer look at our intelligent robots, find out what makes them unique, and to capture them in action picking fruit on a UK farm.