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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

#11

Post by bpodgursky »

nostromo wrote: post #9

> The robots will do everything from re-planting young seedlings to watering, trimming and harvesting crops. Has the author been to a farm in the past 20 years? Most crops today are not planted by hand, or watered by hand, or harvested by hand. (Harvesting is still the most labor intensive part of farming for a few fruits, but automation isn't far off.) I think the most interesting part of this farm is not the automa…

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

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

#12

Post by guimarin »

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.

I'm just going to file this one away for 20 years from now when electricity is 10-100x cheaper than today and indoor/underground farming is the most economical due to pest, density, and environmental concerns. Could you also say this technology will never make sense? That would be very helpful.

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

#13

Post by sithadmin »

bpodgursky wrote: post #11
nostromo wrote: post #9

> The robots will do everything from re-planting young seedlings to watering, trimming and harvesting crops. Has the author been to a farm in the past 20 years? Most crops today are not planted by hand, or watered by hand, or harvested by hand. (Harvesting is still the most labor intensive part of farming for a few fruits, but automation isn't far off.) I think the most interesting part of this farm is not the automa…

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

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

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

#14

Post by jqm »

samstave wrote: post #4
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?

Who has that reaction?? I'm amazed that the drive to Japan's robotic future is human population centric driven: The average age of their farmers is 65.9, young people don't want to be farmers, their population is in decline for many reasons... Robot farming is critical to their bio and economic survival. That fact alone is mind blowing to me. And awesome.

I keep hearing young people don't want to farm but I think there are plenty that do. The problem is, they don't have the experience, nor the millions of dollars in credit required to buy a farm.

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

#15

Post by petra »

guimarin wrote: post #12
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.

I'm just going to file this one away for 20 years from now when electricity is 10-100x cheaper than today and indoor/underground farming is the most economical due to pest, density, and environmental concerns. Could you also say this technology will never make sense? That would be very helpful.

Currently ~50% of the cost of residential electricity is due to the grid, not generation - and it probably affects commercial electricity.

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

#16

Post by bpodgursky »

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.

Pretty skeptical about that. Rice is rice.

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

#17

Post by ramy_d »

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?

I can relate to the sentiment - what's going to happen to countries in the short term when entire industries like transport and farming are automated at nearly the same time?

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

#18

Post by sithadmin »

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.

>Rice is rice.

Coming from a long line of rice farmers...I can assure you that this is really not the case. Rice has HUGE variations between various rice cultivars, and HUGE variations in the end result depending on how the grains are polished. Environmental factors and cultivation/growing methods also influence the taste and nutritional profile of the grain.

A lot of people, particularly in the West, just simply aren't aware of these differences because they've historically never had access to much other than regular milled white rice.

You're also overlooking the fact that Japan's farmers grow nearly every sort of vegetable and fruit produce imaginable.

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

#19

Post by mc32 »

samstave wrote: post #4
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?

Who has that reaction?? I'm amazed that the drive to Japan's robotic future is human population centric driven: The average age of their farmers is 65.9, young people don't want to be farmers, their population is in decline for many reasons... Robot farming is critical to their bio and economic survival. That fact alone is mind blowing to me. And awesome.

Some young people do want to become farmers, just not enough to replace the ones aging out.

Some of the things they have brought about is the acceptance of "ugly" fruit and vegetables. It's not a big market but it's one that exists because young farmers ate pushing the market in this direction despite a fetish for perfect looking fruit and vegetables.

There is even a small movement to get young women into farming: http://modernfarmer.com/2014/03/yamagata-girls-farm/

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

#20

Post by thescriptkiddie »

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 conversion losses. You also get the ability to stack the plants vertically, and the lack of windows makes for lower heat loss in the winter.
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