Meet teabot! After years of development and trials, the worlds first solar powered robotic tea harvester is in action. The tea robot is being trained to only pick the freshest leaf tips. Teabot is already our best friend when it comes to pruning over 26 miles of tea and is capable of plucking over five miles of tea on one charge. Teabot then simply parks itself to face the sun and recharges via the onboard solar array.
As teabot hours of operation may be extended to start work before dawn, to capture the tea at the most fresh stage. The robotic harvesting is very quiet and it is only teh safety lights that give away the pre-dawn tea plucking. The robot is capable of picking top quality leaf and performs the work of around 112 pluckers.
Teabot costs £175,000 plus delivery which typically takes 12 weeks.
tea@tregothnan.co.uk
Last week the heatwave coincided with a flush of leaves on the Assam tea bushes at Tregothnan to create the strongest black tea ever grown in Europe. The volume of tea per bush is also a record, equalling the yield from the finest bushes in Assam and Kenya.
Tregothnan recorded temperatures hotter than India and Kenya. The rain forecast is perfectly timed to promote even more growth, now 300mm shoots of tea are expected this summer.
