Farm Robotics Challenge Awards to spotlight next generation of ag innovation
Winners of the 2025 Farm Robotics Challenge Awards will be announced on May 8. UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems will host a virtual awards ceremony on Thursday, May 8, at 2-3 p.m. PDT. The event will celebrate student teams who have developed cutting-edge robotic solutions to address real-world farming challenges.
The ceremony will announce winners from more than 20 participating colleges and universities across the United States and internationally. Over the past several months, these teams have designed innovative solutions leveraging robotics, artificial intelligence and automation. Competition projects addressed critical farming issues such as autonomous navigation, advanced data collection, harvesting assistance, weeding and more.
“What makes this challenge unique is its focus on practical solutions developed in partnership with actual growers,” said Kelly Scott, competition director. “The innovative solutions these students have developed demonstrate the incredible potential for technology to transform farming and address pressing challenges facing farmers today.”
The 2025 competition will award over $50,000 in prizes across multiple categories, including the prestigious $20,000 Innovation Award sponsored by farm-ng and Western Growers. Additional awards will recognize excellence in productivity, regenerative agriculture, small farm applications and judges’ choice categories. Select teams will also receive travel stipends to attend FIRA USA 2025, North America’s leading ag tech conference, and will have the opportunity to pitch at the Plug and Play Tech Center Summit in June.
Now in its third year, the annual competition continues to expand in scope and impact. Previous winners include UC Davis’s Team Amiggie, which designed a robot to assist human pickers and monitor risky postures, and Olin College of Engineering’s Team PhoenixBot, an autonomous mechanical weeding system built to support smallholder farmers.
The Farm Robotics Challenge aims to inspire students to pursue careers in agriculture while helping farmers solve real-world challenges through emerging technologies. Participating teams include undergraduate and graduate students from both two-year and four-year institutions.
The awards ceremony will be livestreamed on the UC Agriculture and Natural Resources YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/kW1BEKtYkwE. For more information about the competition and to watch the ceremony, visit www.farmroboticschallenge.ai.
About the Farm Robotics Challenge
The Farm Robotics Challenge is organized by UC Agriculture and Natural Resources and the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems, with support from technology partner and sponsor Farm-ng, as well as Western Growers, F3 Innovate, Beck’s Hybrids, Google.org, Taylor Farms, the California Tomato Research Institute, Linak, and Plug and Play. The competition challenges college-level teams to identify and solve real-world agricultural problems using advanced robotics technology.