Hacking the Farm

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Enki
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Hacking the Farm

Post by Enki »

https://www.suprmasv.com/projects/49/farmbot
FarmBot is an open-source and scalable automated precision farming machine and software package designed from the ground up with today’s technologies. Similar to today’s 3D printers and CNC milling machines, FarmBot hardware employs linear guides in the X, Y, and Z directions that allow for tooling such as plows, seed injectors, watering nozzles, and sensors, to be precisely positioned and used on the plants and soil. The entire system is numerically controlled and thus fully automated from the sowing of seeds to harvest. The hardware is designed to be scalable, simple, and hackable. Using the open-source web-based software package, the farmer can graphically design their farm to their desired specifications and upload numerical control code to the hardware. Other software features include storing and manipulating data maps, a decision support system to facilitate data-driven design, access to open data repositories, and enterprise class analytics.

You can read the FarmBot white paper here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/169536137/Far ... ng-Machine

And get involved at http://wiki.FarmBot.it
I am starting to get interested in this sort of stuff. This project looks pretty neat.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
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noddy
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Re: Hacking the Farm

Post by noddy »

interesting.

in another lifetime id like to play with a more generic 3d scaffold with pluggable tools because they are all variations on a theme and provided the scaffold was over engineered enough to handle the big tools and yet also refined enough for delicate movements on small tools it would reduce the act of creating a new robot considerably.
ultracrepidarian
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Enki
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Re: Hacking the Farm

Post by Enki »

noddy wrote:interesting.

in another lifetime id like to play with a more generic 3d scaffold with pluggable tools because they are all variations on a theme and provided the scaffold was over engineered enough to handle the big tools and yet also refined enough for delicate movements on small tools it would reduce the act of creating a new robot considerably.
That would be easy. Just setup a big rail. You can put a robot on the rail that can handle fine-tuned stuff, or just hitch a plow to a motor. A robot on a big rail can include a platform that includes a smaller rail for more fine-tuned work.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
-Alexander Hamilton
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Nonc Hilaire
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Re: Hacking the Farm

Post by Nonc Hilaire »

The essential problem in farming is that seeding and harvesting require specialized and expensive apparatus, and they cannot be effectively shared because everyone needs them at precisely the same time.

Moreover, these times are not predictable because they are weather dependent. The key metric for this kind of gizmo is how many acres can it plant per hour, and how well does it do in a highly mobile dirt/mud/dust environment.
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noddy
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Re: Hacking the Farm

Post by noddy »

i couldnt see it in the large scale mega acre farms but it could work in the more intensive greenhouse based market garden type ones.
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Enki
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Re: Hacking the Farm

Post by Enki »

Nonc Hilaire wrote:The essential problem in farming is that seeding and harvesting require specialized and expensive apparatus, and they cannot be effectively shared because everyone needs them at precisely the same time.
Yeah, that part of it seems a bit strange to me. When I imagine farm equipment this is the least consideration I have. Plowing and seeding is a lot of work but so is installing the robot.
Moreover, these times are not predictable because they are weather dependent. The key metric for this kind of gizmo is how many acres can it plant per hour, and how well does it do in a highly mobile dirt/mud/dust environment.
I am more interested in analysis equipment in a more controlled environment than planting seeds.
noddy wrote:i couldnt see it in the large scale mega acre farms but it could work in the more intensive greenhouse based market garden type ones.
Yeah, there are plenty of automated machines already for the mega-farms. I am more interested in being able to produce food at the scale of feeding your whole family or for feeding your family and providing produce to your neighbors.

Ideally, for my own purposes, I'd like to have a greenhouse with an aquaponic setup where I can have fish like Tilapia that I can eat and plants growing. Something that can measure and analyze the eco-system in the greenhouse would be interesting to me. Basically something that will farm in the absence of human inputs for a couple of weeks.
Men often oppose a thing merely because they have had no agency in planning it, or because it may have been planned by those whom they dislike.
-Alexander Hamilton
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