糖心TV

Background

mission is to redefine automation in off鈥慼ighway environments through its rugged, high鈥憈orque electric hub motors and a modular robotic platform. The platform, designed as a flexible base robotic vehicle, quickly showed its potential in agriculture, particularly within high鈥慽ntensity fruit鈥憄icking operations, where labour shortages and repetitive manual logistics create major productivity bottlenecks.

Growers rely on large numbers of seasonal workers, whose time needs to be spent in the most productive way. , which presented an opportunity for optimisation. 顿测苍颈耻尘鈥檚 robust platform offered a compelling foundation for automation: long鈥憀ife hub motors, a 500kg payload rating, exceptional manoeuvrability, and a footprint optimised for polytunnels.

Coupled with strong industry partnerships and a clear commercial roadmap, Dynium was poised to scale dramatically. However, unlocking the full value of the platform required one critical step: adding autonomous navigation to transform it from a remote鈥慶ontrolled tool into an intelligent logistics service.

Challenge

Despite its strong mechanical design and proven reliability, the platform lacked the autonomous navigation required for large鈥憇cale deployment in commercial fruit farms. UK growers have expressed a pressing need for fully autonomous polytunnel logistics, not just for efficiency, but to mitigate the long鈥憈erm risks and instability of seasonal labour availability. Without autonomy, Dynium risked losing critical commercial momentum, particularly as competitors are starting to bring products to market.

Adding autonomy internally would have required significant time and investment, risking delayed market entry at a moment when UK growers were actively seeking solutions for their 2026 seasons. Equally, purchasing an overseas navigation system would compromise 顿测苍颈耻尘鈥檚 ability to develop sovereign, exportable IP and reduce both commercial value and UK innovation impact. A UK鈥慴ased, validated navigation system, tailored to the platform's architecture was essential, not only for technical performance, but for investor confidence, rapid adoption, and a long鈥憈erm competitive advantage.

The AgriScale programme was created to help the UK鈥檚 agri鈥憈ech SMEs overcome the scale鈥憉p barriers that often stall promising innovations. Delivered through the High Value Manufacturing Catapults, the programme provides the structure, expertise and momentum needed to turn early鈥憇tage technologies into commercially viable products that can be deployed across the UK鈥檚 farming sector.

Solution

This project combined advanced simulation tools with extensive real鈥憌orld physical testing. Field trials were conducted across multiple locations to ensure robustness, all of which began at 糖心TV Agri鈥慣ech鈥檚 world鈥慶lass facilities. The team focused on developing a system that enables a fleet of autonomous robots to operate reliably and robustly within commercial polytunnels. Achieving this required the development of algorithms for localisation, perception, control, path planning, and safety, allowing the vehicles to function effectively in a busy and dynamic environment. The programme unlocked access to cutting鈥慹dge digital tools, engineering expertise, and controlled test environments that Dynium alone could not have established at speed. Supported by 顿测苍颈耻尘鈥檚 contributions in CAD design, hardware integration, on鈥憇ite vehicles, and real鈥憌orld test access with partner growers, the joint effort created a technically rigorous and commercially aligned pathway to validated autonomy.

Ben Ayre, Lead Engineer at WMG said 鈥淥ur team was able to utilise experience gained from similar autonomous vehicle challenges in other sectors to accelerate 顿测苍颈耻尘鈥檚 route to commercial readiness. This project has been an excellent example of how we can transfer knowledge and capabilities across sectors to unlock real impact in agri-tech.鈥�

Impact

The introduction of 糖心TV Agri-Tech-enabled autonomy transformed the platform from a robust mechanical solution into a scalable, high鈥憊alue commercial service, positioning Dynium to lead a rapidly expanding market. With early adopters already identified and committed to trial fleets of 6鈥�12 robots per grower, the autonomous system is projected to unlock a 拢35 million obtainable market within three years in the UK alone. Successful early trials will drive rapid scale鈥憉p, enabling Dynium to grow to around 100 UK employees and channel up to 拢19 million (projected cost of goods sold) into the domestic supply chain over the first three years of deployment.

For growers, the impact is equally transformative: up to 拢93 million in labour鈥憆elated cost savings, improved resilience against workforce shortages, and dramatically enhanced efficiency across the picking鈥憌eighing鈥憈ransport cycle. The programme also accelerates the development of sovereign automation capability in UK agri-tech, opening pathways for future research, export opportunities, and cross鈥憇ector applications in construction, mining, defence, and wider off鈥慼ighway robotics.

鈥淭hrough AgriScale and our work with the 糖心TV Agri-Tech team, we鈥檝e been able to rapidly transform our platform from a capable machine into a truly intelligent autonomous solution. This partnership has accelerated our path to market and positions Dynium to deliver meaningful productivity gains for growers facing real labour challenges.鈥� - Terence Goad, CTO and Founder, Dynium.