Cornell's Rootline Robotics Takes Top Prize at Farm Robotics Challenge
The fourth annual Farm Robotics Challenge concluded last week with an awards ceremony at Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, marking another milestone for one of agriculture's most ambitious student competitions.
Organized by UC ANR Innovate, the innovation arm of the University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems (AIFS), the challenge brings together student engineers and designers to develop real-world robotic solutions for modern farming. Innovation partner Reservoir and technology partner Bonsai Robotics further strengthen the program, giving teams access to industry expertise and cutting-edge platforms to build on.
This year's field was the largest and most international in the competition's history. Ninety-six teams representing 13 countries competed across three divisions: four-year universities, community colleges, and a newly introduced division for middle and high school students through the Farm Robotics Academy. The expansion brought FFA chapters and CTE programs into direct competition alongside teams from institutions like Cornell, UC Davis, and the University of Warwick.
Student teams design and prototype solutions to pressing on-farm problems, leveraging robotic platforms equipped with autonomous navigation, artificial intelligence, and specialized attachments. Projects span the full breadth of production agriculture, from planting and harvesting to pest management, mapping, and data collection. Entries are judged on technical accuracy, design innovation, safety, system complexity, interdisciplinary collaboration, societal benefit, and commercial viability.
This year's $50,000 Grand Prize sponsored by Reservoir VC, went to Rootline Robotics from Cornell University. Their project, Vision-Guided Electric Weed Control for Orchards, tackled a problem that has long frustrated growers: eliminating weeds near tree trunks without chemicals or soil disruption. Built on Bonsai Robotics' Amiga platform, the system uses vision-based trunk detection paired with a pressure-controlled arm and electrode array to precisely target weeds at the source. The result is a scalable, chemical-free approach with meaningful implications for orchard management at scale. The team was advised by Dr. Manoj Karkee of Cornell's Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering.
Western Growers, a longtime supporter of the challenge, sponsored the Excellence in Specialty Crops category, while Plug and Play Tech Center served as host venue.
