P1812283: AHDB call for proposals to advance horticultural automation: Questions & Answers

Q: Please could you confirm if the £45,000 budget is expected to cover prototype development, or will this be funded separately/expected to be funded directly by applicants

A: The total budget for this work is £45,000.

Q: Please could you confirm that all questions will be anonymised?

A: All of the questions will be anonymised before publication on the website

Q: The funding will support experts in manufacturing/engineering/robotics to solve real commercial production challenges that lack realistic solutions from the existing market place. This will be via a hands on project directly tackling commercial challenges with growers. The project will include delivery of physical prototype solutions rather than a desk based feasibility studies, the key to this initiative is genuine collaborative working between the applicant, ideally as new expertise for the horticulture sector, and UK growers - is the budget correct?

A: The total budget for this proposal is £45,000.

Q: Regarding the point that "Applicants are not expected to have identified problems, solutions or grower partnerships prior to application; this will form a start-up phase of work in partnership with AHDB” — If successful, by what date should we have determined the specific project and partners?

A: Ideally the project and partners will be identified as the first step within the first three months. With over 300 crops in several production systems it will be possible to find a project but ideally we want to give the widest range of growers a chance to participate rather than limit it to those that happen to have the right production timing for the start of the project.