Introducing the Grobotic Systems Smart Plant Growth Chamber for plant science research.
Our Vision:
Using the latest in LED lighting, materials science and IoT technologies, Grobotic Systems is developing the most affordable, accurate and reliable plant growth chamber on the market. We want our system to become the dominant platform for data-driven plant science research.
About Us:
We have designed, built, and tested four prototype plant growth chambers so far. We leased our alpha 2 prototype to colleagues at the University of Sheffield for user validation and feedback, and we are using this feedback on our latest prototype iteration, which is undergoing extensive testing at our office/workshop.
In April 2019 we began a two-year Innovate UK grant to develop an Advanced Growth Chamber for use in optimising vertical farming systems, together with colleagues at Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, Stockbridge Technology Centre, and the University of Sheffield.
Dr Alexis Moschopoulos is a plant geneticist with over 13 years' experience in academia and private sector plant science research. He has worked with a wide range of plant species and is a keen horticulturalist and molecular biologist.
Richard Banks is an electronics and software engineer with extensive experience in the IT sector. He is a very enthusiastic and creative maker and builder of things.
We are joined by Matthew Tulley, who recently completed a multi-million pound sale of his former company, Single Use Surgical Ltd. He is an extremely talented mechanical engineer with decades of experience in product development and business management.
We founded Grobotic Systems in January 2018 while participating in the Y-Accelerator Programme organised by the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub.
Our office/workshop is located on Brick Street in Crookes, Sheffield, UK.
News:
May 7th 2019 - And then we were four
We are very excited to be joined by Andrew Merson, the latest addition to our team working on the Innovate UK project. Andrew is a mechanical engineer and plant science enthusiast, and will be developing the chamber HVAC and mechanical systems.
April 9th 2019 - Grobotic Systems moves to Sheffield
In order to accommodate our expanding team, we have moved from our office at Fusion@Magna to an exciting space in the heart of Crookes, Sheffield. We are very grateful for all the support we received from everyone at RIDO and Fusion@Magna, and super excited to be starting the next chapter of our journey in our new offices.
April 1st 2019 - Innovate UK project begins
We are very excited to start the Innovate UK project to design and build our Advanced Growth Chamber. We are delighted to be joined by Gareth Coleman, a full-stack developer and aquaponics engineer, who will design the AGROVeRSe firmware, software, and data architectures.
Great news! We were recently awarded an Innovate UK grant to support the development of our advanced growth chamber for the optimisation of vertical farming systems. We are lead partners in a consortium with colleagues from The Fraunhofer Centre for Applied Photonics, Stockbridge Technology Centre, and the University of Sheffield. Read all about it in our press release!
November 5th 2018 - Alpha 2 Prototype
Our colleague at the University of Sheffield, David Pardo in the lab of Professor Jurriaan Ton, has been trialling our alpha 2 prototype. So far, so good!
October 15th 2018 - Innovate UK AgriTech Investment Showcase
After several pitch training sessions delivered by KTN over the summer, we were very excited to be one of fourteen up-and-coming companies to pass the selection process and be invited to pitch at the Innovate UK AgriTech Investment Showcase 2018 at Prince Philip House, London.
Our company has been featured in a press release by UK Steel Enterprise. Read it here!
July 24th to 25th 2018 - OpenPlant Forum
We were very excited to show our alpha prototype to a great group of plant synthetic biologists from around the world at the 2018 OpenPlant Forum. The forum was held at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, UK, and saw a range of exciting talks on various aspects of plant synthetic biology by scientists working on a number of plant species.
July 23rd 2018 - Patent Filed
We are very pleased to announce that our first patent covering an aspect of our innovative plant growth chamber has been filed.
July 16th 2018 - IMechE Summer Placement Student
Our team is joined by a talented third year Mechanical Engineering student from the University of Sheffield, Eric Cheok. Eric's seven week placement is sponsored by the IMechE Summer Placement programme.
March 28th 2018 - UK Steel Enterprise Y-Accelerator Pitch Event
After a strenuous three months of pitch training by the excellent team at the Rotherham Investment and Development Office (RiDO), we were very pleased to win the Y-Accelerator Best Pitch award at this years's pitch event!
January 4th 2018 - UK Steel Enterprise Y-Accelerator Programme
Our journey starts as we begin this three-month intensive business accelerator programme, supported by the Sheffield City Region Growth Hub, Rotherham Investment and Development Office and UK Steel Enterprise. An invaluable course with excellent facilitators, great speakers and an awesome bunch of startup companies to work with!
Contact
If you would like to know more about our product through a copy of our brochure, or would like to be involved in our beta testing programme, please get in touch.
