UC Davis

This thesis will explore a technological attempt to develop an autonomous mechanized harvester for strawberries undertaken by Harvest Bot in the coastal strawberry-growing region of California. Through a qualitative approach of interviews, participant observation, and discourse analysis the research focused on the experience of Harvest Bot’s project, the broader impacts seen from this development, and how various stakeholders experienced those impacts. While the prototype of the harvester did not reach commercial development during the research period, the thesis argues that multiple stakeholders saw varied positive and negative impacts that can be understood as technical and conceptual. The long-term importance of those impacts is largely determined by the power structures that shape decision-making in the industry, the role of agricultural start-ups, the direct experience of workers with automated harvester technologies, and further connections to the expansion of the metabolic rift.