UV-C robots treat over 1,500 acres of California strawberries

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TRIC Robotics has expanded the use of autonomous robots equipped with UV-C light and bug vacuums in California strawberry fields. The company moved from trials covering half an acre in 2021 to treating more than 1,500 acres (607 hectares) of commercial strawberries in 2026.

The company currently operates a fleet of 15 machines, which run at night and are used to control fungal pathogens and pests as an alternative to chemical pesticide applications. The robots are diesel-powered and designed to cover six or more rows.

TRIC Robotics operates under a robots-as-a-service model, with growers paying for applications rather than purchasing the equipment. According to co-founder Adam Stager, the service is priced at around the level growers currently pay for spraying against fungal pathogens.

“One of the best things is it [the TRIC business model] doesn’t require anything from the farmer. Since we operate as a service, they don’t have any upfront capex, and we operate at night out of the way of all the things that they normally do during the day,” Stager said.

The company initially developed golf cart-sized machines before moving to tractor-sized units in collaboration with Andros Engineering. The boom was also automated to adjust the height of the UV-C array above the crop and account for field variability.

UV-C treatment was the company’s initial application, followed by the addition of bug vacuums to the same machines. TRIC Robotics is considering adding further field operations to its platform, including furrow levelling and weed removal.

The company is currently focused on strawberries, where growers are geographically concentrated and commonly pay for crop protection on a per-application, per-acre basis. It is also considering using UV-C applications as an entry point into other crops and expanding with existing customers into international markets.

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Source: The Plantations International Agroforestry Group of Companies