Robotics Plus Unveils New Multi-Use Autonomous Vehicle For Agriculture

February 9, 2025 by Mark Allinson

New Zealand-based agritech company Robotics Plus has showcased Prospr, its autonomous, multi-use, hybrid vehicle for vineyards and orchards, at the recent 2025 Unified Wine & Grape Symposium in Sacramento, California this week.

Prospr is a robust autonomous vehicle with a unique modular architecture, advanced AI capabilities, and all-day running that tackles various crop tasks, including automated intelligent spraying.

Prospr significantly increases efficiency across tasks, reduces fuel consumption by 70 percent with its hybrid diesel-electric and decreases emissions, and reduces inputs – enhancing environmental sustainability and health and safety while reducing operational cost and reliance on increasingly hard-to-find machine operators.

Prospr's design focuses on utilization and flexibility, adapting to different tools, crop types, growing formats, and applications throughout the year to maximize return on investment for growers. Prospr is already transforming orchard and vineyard management in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

Steve Saunders, co-founder and CEO of Robotics Plus, says:“We're looking forward to talking all things Prospr at North America's largest wine industry event.

“Growers have been putting Prospr to the test all season to alleviate labour challenges and drive efficiency, sustainability, safety, and precision in vineyards and orchards. It's gratifying to see our automation playing a role in a new future for viticulture.”

Treasury Wine Estates (TWE), a global leader in wine, was one of the first to embed Prospr into its vineyard operations and has vehicles operating at multiple sites in California, the US, and New Zealand.

Will Drayton, director of sustainability and science at Treasury Americas, a division of Treasury Wine Estates, says:“Since the early development phase of the Prospr prototype in New Zealand, our global team has partnered with Robotics Plus on autonomous vehicles, with units now operating in a number of our vineyards.

“Prospr supports us to optimize vineyard management and minimize our environmental impact in line with our broader approach to sustainability.”

Prospr is engineered to deliver unparalleled adaptability to help growers succeed in an ever-evolving agricultural landscape.

At the core of Prospr's innovation is its advanced AI (artificial intelligence) system, which combines intelligent features to maximize efficiency, safety, and operational uptime in demanding orchard and vineyard environments.

Highlights include:

• Automated intelligent and targeted spraying – Enhancing precision, reducing chemical use, and optimizing application. Growers can deploy a range of spray configurations on Prospr, with tower sprayers for grapes, apples, or tree crops already available. Spray rates and air speed are dynamic and controlled in zones or by individual fans to maximise spray efficacy and target application more than traditional sprayers.
• AI-powered navigation, safety and precision – Prospr's state-of-the-art collision avoidance system integrates LiDAR (light detection and ranging) and cameras to detect and identify obstacles, ensuring safe navigation in complex environments. This system enables Prospr to autonomously adjust its speed, avoid obstacles, and stop when necessary, maintaining high operational speeds while ensuring safety. LiDAR's precise measuring capabilities allow Prospr to create detailed 3D maps of the surroundings and distinguish between harmless elements like grass and foliage and critical obstacles. Prospr can maintain operational speeds while autonomously navigating row crops, only slowing or stopping for significant obstacles. For other obstacles in a row, the vehicle will slow to a safe speed and rely on triggering the front bumper to bring it to a stop if necessary.
• Intuitive user interface (UI) for seamless control – Prospr's highly intuitive user interface (UI) empowers operators to manage and monitor tasks remotely and efficiently to harness the full potential of autonomous technology. Operators can manage and organise the day's jobs for multiple machines from a single location, track job status remotely in real-time (enabling them to take care of other tasks), and maintain a detailed record of active and completed jobs. This enhanced visibility enables more precise planning, improved reporting, and operational flexibility. Operators can get an overview of vehicle stats, monitor the vehicle while running a mission, and seamlessly switch between manual and autonomous functions.
• Fuel efficiency and sustainability – A hybrid diesel-electric system cuts fuel consumption by 70 percent to significantly lower emissions and costs and minimise environmental impact. Operators can set Prospr's parameters to ensure safe operations that protect people, crops, and the environment, aligning with sustainability goals.
• Enhanced productivity and workplace safety – Prospr reduces labour costs and dependency on increasingly scarce machine operators while improving workplace safety.

Dr Alistair Scarfe, co-founder and chief engineering officer at Robotics Plus, says Prospr's autonomous capabilities, including advanced artificial intelligence, pave the way for a more efficient, safe and sustainable viticulture industry.

Scarfe says:“The Unified Symposium is a great opportunity to showcase how Prospr works in the background to optimize orchard and vineyard tasks such as spraying – with AI imaging, cameras, LiDAR and sensors embedded in the vehicle.

“Key functionalities using the user-friendly interface, such as site setup, job management, and vehicle monitoring, will be demonstrated live. Participants can interact with Prospr's user-friendly UI via a tablet and see how it enables streamlined control.”

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