I am starting to get interested in this sort of stuff. This project looks pretty neat.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
Hacking the Farm
Hacking the Farm
https://www.suprmasv.com/projects/49/farmbot
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
-Alexander Hamilton
Re: Hacking the Farm
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.
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
Re: Hacking the Farm
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.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.
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
-Alexander Hamilton
- Nonc Hilaire
- Posts: 6168
- Joined: Sat Dec 17, 2011 1:28 am
Re: Hacking the Farm
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.
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.
“Christ has no body now but yours. Yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks among His people to do good. Yours are the hands through which he blesses His creation.”
Teresa of Ávila
Teresa of Ávila
Re: Hacking the Farm
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.
ultracrepidarian
Re: Hacking the Farm
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.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.
I am more interested in analysis equipment in a more controlled environment than planting seeds.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.
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.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.
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
-Alexander Hamilton