Met a couple a few years ago who’d recently lost their teenaged son tamping down a corn bin; still have nightmares about the details. This will be wonderful if it’s accessible to all farmers.
A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
111–120 of 134 posts
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#112Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking as someone who knows farmers- they do, in fact, consider going into the silo a dangerous task, because everyone knows some family that had someone die because of it. They do it anyway, because it needs to get done, but they are quite aware of the risk. Everything on a farm has to earn its keep in terms of ROI, and so will this robot. It may or may not be cost effective, and we'll see. But please don't downpl…
The alternatives suggested on [1] (from a different comment) are much cheaper: long poles, a safety harness, lock tag. If farmers aren't already using those, why would they buy this? [1] https://agfax.com/2019/02/18/grain-bins-sudden-death-4-ways-...
It looks more fun to use.
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
Speaking as someone who knows farmers- they do, in fact, consider going into the silo a dangerous task, because everyone knows some family that had someone die because of it. They do it anyway, because it needs to get done, but they are quite aware of the risk. Everything on a farm has to earn its keep in terms of ROI, and so will this robot. It may or may not be cost effective, and we'll see. But please don't downpl…
The entire idea that "x workers don't care about safety" is just dumb. Yes some individuals care less than they should. But every job has some people who are smart enough to value their own safety. And those people will seriously consider any device the significantly increases safety.
It is not only that, awareness plays crucial role in safety, there are numerous factors that negatively effects awareness, some factors might not be related to job at all, it might be "simple" commutative cognitive fatigue. Arguably, this issue is irrespective of training quality and/or understanding of job risks (smart), to large degree.
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#114This seems like another high tech solution looking for a problem. I'm not heavy agriculture savy but it seems to me the same could be solved by having 2 or 3 archimedes screws on the bin which could keep grain moving over time and preventing it from forming the clods. The bot could also be radio controlled and it would still remove the need of a human going in. Another pet peeve of mine is the robot-as-a-service part…
Yep, that was my first thought as an outsider and of course it's already used in those bins, it's more heavy-duty, faster, probably more expensive to install but more effective than a small robot. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRISXr_euWo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vm5jSAmVe0 They still have to get inside sometimes (less than without them) to fix it but it's the same with the robot if it's get stuck or batter…
The first video perfectly illustrates how the majority of grain bins in Northern California are configured, mostly for storing rice and wheat. I grew up on our family farm and we have several grain bins. They contain a row of augers at the top, with the row width being the radius of the grain bin. The augers almost reach the floor and spin to "stir" the grain, and the entire row slowly rotates around the top. We called them "stirs" [sic] and they were installed 35 and 45 years ago, so it's definitely not a new concept. Very simple and very effective. Grain bins there also have large fans and heaters at the base, which we just called "dryers". Between the stirs and the dryers our area didn't have any suffocation or explosion incidents that I remember, but we knew those were risks and we were careful if we had to go inside full grain bins. It seems like more of an issue in the Midwest with corn and soybeans, and taller silos.
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree. The first paragraph of the article contains their reasoning behind creating it. An experienced farmer asked them to create something so that he (and his children) never had to expose themselves to that risk again. They know it is dangerous, they may manage that risk but you are a fool if you think they would prefer to run the risk rather than find a safer alternative.
This thread is a hilarious game of "I'm better than you because I know real farmers". For some reason, certain occupations seem to bring out a sanctimonious attitude in people that nobody can understand it if they're not personally doing it themselves, combined with a failure to recognize that those occupationists are diverse and one person's personal friends might feel differently from another group or even the majo…
> certain occupations seem to bring out a sanctimonious attitude in people that nobody can understand it if they're not personally doing it themselves
Justifiably so.
Farming is not like watering a house plant.
Imagine taking all your money, gambling it on land, seed and equipment, and either having too much rain or a drought. Then do that 50 years in a row without rolling snake eyes. Your HN farming romance will be over in days.
It's a high-stakes occupation with outcomes that you can't control.
I've worked on farms, and have relatives who own farms. There is nothing glamorous, and most of them have winter jobs in the city to finance their farm hobby, which is what it is. I appreciate each day that I "work" in IT.
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#116I'm kind of fascinated by how many comments in here are of the "Gee, why use something so complicated? Why not just tie on a rope if you go in the silo?" variety. The inability to imagine that people who aren't tech bros can and actually do sensible things to address problems they encounter--and that some of their problems might still be harder to solve than coding a signup form--is impressive.
1. Not many comments are like that. 2. Many (most?) users here do more complex programming work than just signup forms. 3. Not everyone has the privilege of being familiar with both ag and programming. Plus, there are a lot of young users here. Today, a few people are learning more about silo safety. What’s impressive about that?
> Today, a few people are learning more about silo safety. What’s impressive about that?
What’s not impressive?
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#117About 30 people a year are entrapped in grain bins. About half die. Generally, someone goes inside a grain bin only because something has gone wrong. Which is when it's most dangerous. [1] https://agfax.com/2019/02/18/grain-bins-sudden-death-4-ways-...
[deleted]
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#118I'm kind of fascinated by how many comments in here are of the "Gee, why use something so complicated? Why not just tie on a rope if you go in the silo?" variety. The inability to imagine that people who aren't tech bros can and actually do sensible things to address problems they encounter--and that some of their problems might still be harder to solve than coding a signup form--is impressive.
"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong."
H. L. Mencken, who probably died without seeing a computer (1956)
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#119Earlier quoted context omitted.
1. Not many comments are like that. 2. Many (most?) users here do more complex programming work than just signup forms. 3. Not everyone has the privilege of being familiar with both ag and programming. Plus, there are a lot of young users here. Today, a few people are learning more about silo safety. What’s impressive about that?
> Today, a few people are learning more about silo safety. What’s impressive about that? What’s not impressive?
I’m always a little amazed, in a good way, how willing people are willing to repeatedly educate others, if that’s what you mean.
If you mean everyone should have read articles about ag safety or experienced it through work or family connections, to the point they’re to be blamed if not, I don’t agree. I’m fortunate enough to have been thoroughly exposed to farming growing up, and it sounds like you were too. Sadly, most people don’t get to have that experience due to population distribution in most industrialized countries, and their formal education and learning for fun may have gone in different directions. Field trips, field internships, WWOOF, 4H, etc. help and it’s important to support those efforts. In the meantime, I find it completely normal that some people learn about silo safety when a silo safety article is posted.
Re: A robot to replace the need for farmers to go inside the grain bin
#120About 30 people a year are entrapped in grain bins. About half die. Generally, someone goes inside a grain bin only because something has gone wrong. Which is when it's most dangerous. [1] https://agfax.com/2019/02/18/grain-bins-sudden-death-4-ways-...
That’s an interesting statistic. Is there data anywhere that has a consolidated list of counts of accidental death by injury. That would be a great place to look for startup ideas.