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Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

theguardian.com

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Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#21

Post by _puk »

droro wrote: post #10

Artificially-lit indoor farming is neato and will be a great technology to bring into space, but makes almost no sense on earth. Basically, it requires expensive infrastructure and way too much electricity ( https://gigaom.com/2015/12/29/indoor-farming-good-for-cannab... ). Maybe robotically-farmed greenhouses won't have this problem.

There was a halfway decent (if simplified) segment on Countryfile [0] about the use of PhytoLux LEDs in the UK.

They've been working with Bristol Uni to investigate the effect of various colours and wavelengths on plant growth (Something Gigaom, linked, is only just experimenting with); they claim energy efficiency [1] as just one advantage when using vertical farming methods.

0: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06z9ph6/countryfile-no...

1: http://resources.phytolux.com/images/phytolux/newsletters/Pr...

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#22

Post by stephengillie »

Retric wrote: post #6
narrator wrote: post #3

I'm a bit puzzled that the reaction on the Guardian to this development is primarily one of fear that robots are taking our jobs. Isn't anyone excited about how all this production and efficiency is going to make food extremely cheap?

Robots/Automation has already made food cheap. Modern farmers are literally 1,000x as effective as their medieval equivalents. At this point the human factor is generally fairly negligible compared to other inputs (seed, land, machinery, etc.).

Remember when more than half of Americans worked on farms? It's why farm labor laws are special. Automation has allowed many of us to live a relatively labor-free life compared to our grandparents.

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#24

Post by imtringued »

narrator wrote: post #3

I'm a bit puzzled that the reaction on the Guardian to this development is primarily one of fear that robots are taking our jobs. Isn't anyone excited about how all this production and efficiency is going to make food extremely cheap?

Food is already extremly cheap to the point where producers throw it away to artificially raise prises.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-01/milk-spill...

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#25

Post by veidr »

bpodgursky wrote: post #16
sithadmin wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It shows - in a good way - in the quality of the produce, though.

Pretty skeptical about that. Rice is rice.

Ha ha ha! As an American living in Japan, who doesn't even particularly like rice, I would have once thought so too, but have learned that's not true in the slightest. That would probably be like saying to somebody in my native Northern California, "Hey, grapes are grapes."

I have also learned rice is not the only foodstuff Japan makes that kicks ass. Peaches, garlic, strawberries, and melons are among several plant-based foods I have had here, with a quality that I never experienced back home in US and A (or anywhere else). (Of course, one perfect, individually-wrapped peach night cost $8, but that's another story.)

Then of course there's the beef...

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#27

Post by icanhackit »

sithadmin wrote: post #13
bpodgursky wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Japanese farming is notoriously manual, inefficient, and protected by heavy tariffs.

It shows - in a good way - in the quality of the produce, though.

Agreed. The price is high but the quality is unparalleled in terms of taste, texture and appearance.

Humans can be excellent quality assurance machines, they're just very high maintenance.

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#28

Post by mucker »

veidr wrote: post #25
bpodgursky wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty skeptical about that. Rice is rice.

Ha ha ha! As an American living in Japan, who doesn't even particularly like rice, I would have once thought so too, but have learned that's not true in the slightest. That would probably be like saying to somebody in my native Northern California, "Hey, grapes are grapes." I have also learned rice is not the only foodstuff Japan makes that kicks ass. Peaches, garlic, strawberries, and melons are among several plant-…

NorCal is also a major producer of rice...just not in the hill country but in and about Sacramento all along the river.

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#29

Post by lololomg »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #20
droro wrote: post #10

Artificially-lit indoor farming is neato and will be a great technology to bring into space, but makes almost no sense on earth. Basically, it requires expensive infrastructure and way too much electricity ( https://gigaom.com/2015/12/29/indoor-farming-good-for-cannab... ). Maybe robotically-farmed greenhouses won't have this problem.

If the electricity for the grow lights is produced locally via solar power, it is actually more efficient than using sunlight directly (provided LED grow lights are used). This is because the grow lights provide only the narrow bands of wavelengths that plants absorb most efficiently. Only about 45% of visible sunlight is usable by plants, compared to around 95% for photovoltaics, which more than makes up for convers…

Solar panels are only about 20% efficient though, you're still losing out.

Re: Japanese firm to open world’s first robot-run farm

#30

Post by vectorjohn »

thescriptkiddie wrote: post #20
droro wrote: post #10

Artificially-lit indoor farming is neato and will be a great technology to bring into space, but makes almost no sense on earth. Basically, it requires expensive infrastructure and way too much electricity ( https://gigaom.com/2015/12/29/indoor-farming-good-for-cannab... ). Maybe robotically-farmed greenhouses won't have this problem.

If the electricity for the grow lights is produced locally via solar power, it is actually more efficient than using sunlight directly (provided LED grow lights are used). This is because the grow lights provide only the narrow bands of wavelengths that plants absorb most efficiently. Only about 45% of visible sunlight is usable by plants, compared to around 95% for photovoltaics, which more than makes up for convers…

I don't know if that actually works in practice. Aren't photovoltaics (commercially feasible ones) like 20% efficient? Sure, its 20% of a bigger spectrum, and plants aren't perfectly efficient either, but I don't know if the math quite works as well as you make it sound.

The other benefits are awesome though. And our fusion future will make the photovoltaics issue moot anyway :)

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