Delightfully sweet Strawberry robot prototype unveiled

Birds eating strawberries can be frustrating but Daniel’s Strawberry Robot, protects the strawberry plants from birds in a fun and imaginative way. She came up with the idea when she was in Year 1 at The Pilgrim School, she then submitted her engineering idea to Primary Engineer’s annual UK STEM competition which asks pupils aged 3 –19 the question “If you were an engineer, what would you do?” in 2025. 

Each year Industry and University partners of Primary Engineer choose a pupil’s idea to build into a Prototype and to be revealed a year later at the regional awards ceremony.

The team from Canterbury Christ Church University chose this idea because it tackles a familiar problem in a clever and positive way. Birds eating strawberries can be frustrating and the idea of a robot that can gently scare them away is both practical and engaging. The project also offers a great opportunity to explore modern tools such as artificial intelligence and robotics while keeping the solution friendly and accessible. The team felt the Strawberry Robot had strong potential to grow into a realistic prototype. It also allowed them to explore detection movement and interaction which makes it a rich and rewarding engineering challenge.

The finished prototype was officially unveiled on 16th July at the South East regional award ceremony hosted at Canterbury Christ Church University.

The 2026/27 Competition is Officially OPEN so get involved to experience the fun! Register for full competition access and resources here: https://leadersaward.com/resource-area-registration/