Two mobile agriculture robot prototypes will be developed by Cambridge-based Antobot after it was awarded a grant from the Eastern Agri-Tech Growth Initiative.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority has awarded £40,000 to Antobot to further develop its robot control units and complete testing of the robotic technology.
Antobot focuses on the control hardware and software development for intelligent mobile robots tailored to agriculture applications. The company said the funding will enable it to hire two new full-time members of staff.
Dr Howard Wu, chief executive officer of Antobot, said: “Receiving this grant really means a lot to us, the team are really excited about what the future holds for the company.
“The agriculture sector is facing an unprecedented labour shortage due to a range of factors including the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit. With the grant we will be able to accelerate our product development bringing our products and services into the market quicker.”
The Eastern Agri-Tech Growth Initiative supports projects that will increase agricultural productivity, it provides funding for local Argi-Tech businesses to be put towards product development, R&D and prototype creation.
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, which has predicted that the agricultural technology sector will be worth more than £136bn globally by 2025, said the grant will help Cambridge-based businesses to seize opportunities for new product development.
