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From Pushcarts to Precision Robotics: L5 Automation Builds Next-Gen Harvesting Systems Faster
January 1, 2025
Client Snapshot
L5 Automation is an early-stage robotics company building AI-driven systems to automate complex tasks in unstructured environments. Their mission: enable robots to do what only humans could do before—starting with strawberry harvesting.
Categories
- DEVELOPER
- AGTECH STARTUP
- California
After testing manual carts, L5 Automation chose the self-propelled Amiga platform to accelerate development and stay lean—no custom chassis or mechanical engineer required. With 50% cost savings and proven performance in mud and water, Amiga enabled rapid iteration and real-world validation of their AI-driven harvesting system.
The challenge
L5 set out to develop a robotic system for strawberry harvesting, starting with data collection and foliage manipulation. Initially using a pushcart to transport their robot arm, they quickly ran into limitations—manual transport was inefficient, heavier builds were impractical, and building their own self-propelled chassis from scratch would drain time and capital.
The solution
The Amiga Developer Bundle gave L5 the out-of-the-box, self-propelled, all-terrain mobility platform they needed. Amiga’s modular design allowed the team to iterate from a single-arm prototype to a multi-arm, rail-mounted robotic system—without ever changing the base. Its performance in mud, water, and high payload scenarios made it an ideal platform for rapid prototyping and future scaling.
The results
- Time to deployment – fully operational within one week of purchase.
- Cost savings – 50% over competitive chassis platforms.
- Reusability – one Amiga supported 3+ prototype evolutions (1-arm, 2-arm, rail systems).
- Field-ready – operated reliably in 6–8 inches of mud/water and hauled over 1,100 lbs.
- Efficiency advantage – enabled the lean team to progress without adding a mechanical engineer.
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“Don’t reinvent the wheel. Focus on what you’re doing that’s never been done—and let people like farm-ng handle the rest.”
● Alex Guitierrez, CEO, L5 Automation
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“The Amiga just worked—right out of the box. It performed better than expected in deep mud and let us go from prototype to field deployment without engineering a mobility system ourselves.”
● Alex Guitierrez, CEO, L5 Automation
How they did it
As a seed-stage startup, L5 Automation’s philosophy is “crawl, walk, run.” They began with static arms and manual carts, slowly evolving toward a mobile robotic harvester. But moving heavy systems by hand was unsustainable, and building a custom chassis would have diverted energy from their core innovation.
A fellow founder recommended the Amiga Developer Bundle and within a week, L5 had it in the field. The team integrated their system immediately, using it first with one robotic arm, then two, eventually building out a rail-based dual-arm platform for both strawberry harvesting and foliage manipulation. Amiga’s flexibility allowed them to test and iterate without starting from scratch, making adjustments on bed width and frame structure on the fly.
Over the past 2–3 years, L5 has purchased three Amigas—each deployed in different prototype environments, including strawberry and blueberry fields. The consistent reliability and support from farm-ng helped L5 stay lean, agile, and focused on what they do best: building breakthrough automation systems that make the impossible possible.
