A team of Cornell University students won the Farm Robotics Challenge grand prize on 21 May 2026 with a prototype designed to remove weeds in orchards and vineyards through targeted electric pulses. The team built the system over four months, combining agricultural and engineering expertise to address competition for water and nutrients near trees and vines.
Cornell reported the prize in June, identifying Andrew James, Natalia Kurz and Michael Neiss among the founders continuing the work as Rootline Robotics. The award included a $50,000 investment commitment associated with startup development. The team said its next priorities were improving the system and validating it with growers. The competition result does not establish commercial availability or independently verified field-scale economics.
