Farm robots in the UK currently operate under a patchwork of unclear and conflicting regulations, slowing their adoption on farms. This network aims to fix that. The problem is that rules for agri-robots—machines that work outdoors in unpredictable weather and terrain, from remote-controlled sprayers to fully autonomous harvesters—are fragmented across multiple agencies and standards bodies. Farmers and developers lack clear guidance on safety, liability, and compliance, which discourages investment and scaling. If successful, ARRNet will become a central, trusted hub that connects regulators (DSIT, Defra, HSE), standards organisations (BSI), and industry. It will produce evidence to shape progressive regulation, develop industry-wide technical standards, and offer compliance testing and training accreditation. This could accelerate the deployment of robots that reduce pesticide use, address labour shortages, and improve crop monitoring—changes that affect the food supply chain and farm economics, not everyday household moments. The consortium, led by the UK Agri-Tech Centre with universities and the Manufacturing Technology Centre, builds on a Discovery Phase that already secured broad industry support. The 12-month funded period aims to establish a financially self-sustaining network through member services.
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The current landscape of regulation and standards governing UK agri-robotics is complex, fragmented and opaque, which reduces confidence and slows innovation, adoption, investment and scaling. Following consultation and engagement in our Regulatory Science and Innovation Network (RSIN) Discovery Phase project, we will establish the UK Agri-Robotics Regulatory Network (ARRNet) which focuses on unique challenges of the agri-robotics sector: in-field, outdoor settings with unpredictable and uncontrollable factors (e.g. weather and terrain) and a diverse cross-section of autonomy levels, spanning teleoperated and fully autonomous field robots. This network will become a trusted partner to regulators, policymakers, researchers and industry (from robotics developers to farmer end-users), delivering evidence to support progressive regulation, building cohesion to develop and champion industry standards, and supporting businesses through demonstration of regulatory compliance testing and training accreditation. Led by the UK Agri-Tech Centre (UKATC), with partners University of Lincoln, Harper Adams University and the Manufacturing Technology Centre, the consortium is uniquely placed to provide deep agricultural robotics domain expertise and capabilities, as well as broad cross-sectoral robotics knowledge, experience and implementation, spanning national and international regions, farming cultures and practices. The Discovery Phase project secured support from a wide cross-section of agri-robotics developers, farmers and growers, agricultural machinery sector, and allied sectors. These views have guided the focus of this Implementation Phase proposal to ensure the network addresses industry need. In addition, input from the 2022 National Agri-Robotics Proving Ground feasibility study (supported by SBRI and Innovate UK), led by University of Lincoln and in collaboration with Agri-EPI Centre (now UKATC), provides further evidence to support the directions and solutions proposed here. The partners have strong existing relationships with many key players in the regulatory, standards and policy ecosystem including DSIT, Defra, BSI, HSE, and key industry stakeholders including Agricultural Engineers Association (AEA), Institute of Agricultural Engineers (IAgrE), comprehensive links with agri-robotics SMEs, and international organisations including American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE), Western Growers Association, the agri-robotics forum FIRA, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET). This, in addition to foundations built in the Discovery Phase, will ensure the network makes a strong start to its 12-month funded period, and achieves financial sustainability thereafter through a range of unique member services.
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