Olivotics builds a compact, affordable robot that harvests olives autonomously. No skilled operator needed. Fits in a car. Costs under €20k.
Harvesting costs eat up 50–80% of total production expenses. Workers are increasingly unavailable, and existing machinery is built for industrial farms.
Seasonal workers in rural Europe are harder to find every year. Labour costs rose 15–20% in the last three years. In Greece alone, 20–30% of olives went unharvested in 2022–23.
Heavy tractor-shakers are designed for industrial orchards. They're too large, too aggressive, and too expensive for the 70% of European olive farms that are traditional and medium-scale.
Current mechanical solutions require trained operators and full crews, making them impractical for small farm owners who can't afford or find that labour.
"Finding workers for harvest is becoming impossible."— Olive producer, Abruzzo, Italy
Olivotics is a semi-autonomous olive harvesting robot built from the ground up for traditional farms, not industrial orchards.
The tracked robot drives itself between the rows and steadies under the tree on four stabilising legs.
A motorised arm reaches into the canopy and shakes the branches, detaching ripe olives without harming the tree.
Olives fall into the wide funnel net and gather at the base, ready to empty — no ladders, no hand-picking.
A target price under €20,000 — a fraction of an industrial harvester. Designed to pay for itself in a few seasons by replacing hired-labour costs.
1.0 × 1.3 m footprint. Transports in a standard passenger car. No trailer, no logistics headache.
Simple, electric-only, minimal maintenance. Any farm owner can run it. No training course needed.
A single person can supervise several robots working simultaneously, multiplying output without extra crew.
Fully electric, zero emissions, no fuel. Lightweight design avoids soil compaction and root damage.
70% of European olive farms are traditional, medium-scale operations. That is exactly who we're building for. No existing machine covers this segment well.
We're at the starting line with a clear plan and funding secured to get to a working demo within 9 months.
Component sourcing, robot dimension finalisation, ROS 2 development environment setup, farm testing partner secured in Abruzzo.
In progressWheeled platform with branch-shaking arm and collection net. Operator-controlled prototype proven in the field. Company incorporated, government grant programme begins.
Phase 1Row-following navigation, branch detection via depth camera, autonomous operation in controlled conditions. Field testing at partner farm in Abruzzo.
Phase 2Full field test during the Italian olive harvest season. Pilot contracts with partner farms. Performance data collected for product refinement.
MilestoneOlivotics was founded by two Robotics & AI students at the University of Klagenfurt who grew up harvesting olives. We're not solving a problem we read about. We lived it.
We combine deep technical knowledge in robotics and AI with first-hand experience of what traditional olive farmers actually need: something affordable, simple, and that works without requiring a second career in engineering.
Our research and development is based in Carinthia, Austria, in collaboration with academic experts and olive farming communities across Southern Europe.
We're raising the support to take Olivotics from prototype to first harvest. If you're an investor, a research institution, or an olive-farming cooperative, we'd like to talk.
Backing early-stage agri-robotics with capital and networks.
Robotics, AI, and agronomy collaborators across Europe.
Olive growers in Greece, Italy, and Spain to test on real harvests.
Whether you're a farmer, investor, or potential partner, tell us a bit about yourself and we'll be in touch.