Nanovel's robotic citrus harvesters target cost reduction for US orange and lemon growers

Nanovel's AI-guided robots could cut citrus harvesting costs for US growers by 2029

Nanovel, a 2018-founded robotics firm, secured a €2.5m European Innovation Council grant to advance its citrus harvesting technology. The company’s current model uses six telescopic arms coordinated by computer vision to select fruit by color and size, achieving 70-80% pickup efficiency with human operators handling 10-15% of difficult-to-reach fruit. In California trials this fall, the system demonstrated potential to reduce harvesting costs from $42-43 per 900-lb bin to $25-30 per bin—though the trial was described as a learning exercise rather than validation. Nanovel plans pilot deployments in 2028 and commercial rollout by 2029, targeting the $1.5 billion US and southern European orange and lemon market. The robots sell for approximately $400,000 each with a projected five-year payback period.

This technology could lower citrus harvesting costs for growers in targeted regions, potentially increasing supply and reducing prices for citrus. However, the current system requires human oversight for bin replacement and obstruction clearance, and the 70-80% pickup rate represents optimal human-robot collaboration—not full automation. The source explicitly states the California trial was a learning exercise, and the $400,000 unit price is an initial estimate that may decrease. The technology addresses labor-intensive harvesting for citrus producers, not directly for 10 million farmers.

Source: AgFunder News