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Open Source Farming Robot

farm.bot

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Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#171

Post by gpm »

dukeofdoom wrote: post #110
stingrae wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

out of curiosity, what did he need done and how much was he offering? I do think the kind of SWE you need for that kind of job is unlikely to hang out on fiverrr or upwork.

I don't know the exact details. But I can find out, if you know someone that might be interested in such a project. "My dad, who I copied on this email had a quick question regarding hiring a programmer to write a small program for a farm equipment control system" is what I responded to.

You're on a forum filled with bored software engineers, posting details right here is a pretty good idea ;)

If contract work isn't against the rules for them (not sure), and the job is otherwise reasonable (feasible, not too open ended, not throwing up giant red flags) I bet he would get some bites by posting to the monthly "who is hiring" threads too.

Depending on the details of the request I might be willing to do it, more because I think it might be interesting to work on a "farm equipment control system" than anything else. Coincidentally I gave notice at my job a week ago so I'll have some free time coming up.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#172

Post by bobiny »

TaylorAlexander wrote: post #163
bobiny wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Community gardens.

This! I started bookmarking community gardens in Oakland. There’s quite a few and I hope more space can be allocated for them in the future!

My dream is to make gardens under geodesic domes. In UK there is Eden project with 2 domes: one has mediterranean climate and another tropical. Imagine being able to grow mangoes and pineapples almost anywhere (it maybe too expensive in some climates, but maybe just growing strawberries there would be nice). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWr67v620kY

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#174

Post by maxioatic »

Happy to see this get some attention! I've been following it for the last 6ish years, and it's been cool to see their progress.

I think a few commenters are missing the point of this project. It's not a commercial robot and it's not meant to mass produce food. It seems maybe the use the word "farm" is being taken too literally. Their four stated applications are:

1. Education

2. Home use

3. Research

4. Accessibility

This is the description from their white paper [0]:

> The vision of this project is to create an open and accessible technology aiding everyone to grow food and to grow food for everyone. The mission is to grow a community that produces free and open-source hardware plans, software, data, and documentation enabling everyone to build and operate a farming machine.

[0] - https://farm.bot/blogs/news/the-farmbot-whitepaper

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#175

Post by dukeofdoom »

gpm wrote: post #171
dukeofdoom wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know the exact details. But I can find out, if you know someone that might be interested in such a project. "My dad, who I copied on this email had a quick question regarding hiring a programmer to write a small program for a farm equipment control system" is what I responded to.

You're on a forum filled with bored software engineers, posting details right here is a pretty good idea ;) If contract work isn't against the rules for them (not sure), and the job is otherwise reasonable (feasible, not too open ended, not throwing up giant red flags) I bet he would get some bites by posting to the monthly "who is hiring" threads too. Depending on the details of the request I might be willing to do…

Okay, great. I just emailed him to find out if he hired someone. If he hasn't if there a way to private message on here? I can forward your contact info to him.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#178

Post by maxioatic »

kortex wrote: post #73
bobiny wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a for small hipster raised bed farming in back yard. Maybe it doesn't have to scale to a size of a commercial farm

That's exactly what I have and I'm telling you, it's still impractical. One, my greenhouse is a 24x13' footprint (which is pretty much the minimum useable with for a walk-in), with 3 bed rows 16' long, 2 or 4' wide. So I'd need 3 robot setups. Beds are long and skinny to facilitate human ergonomics. The shown examples are way too wide for raised beds, unless they are the walk-on type. So I'd still benefit from a robo…

It's open source and designed to be modular/expandable. What's stopping you from building one to fit your needs?

Here's some pictures[0] of people building larger scale ones:

- 10x20' inside a greenhouse

- 1.5x18m outdoor

[0] - https://forum.farmbot.org/t/photo-contest-post-your-best-far...

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#179

Post by teclordphrack2 »

qq4 wrote: post #123
bobiny wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a for small hipster raised bed farming in back yard. Maybe it doesn't have to scale to a size of a commercial farm

Slightly off topic, but what is it about raised beds? Why not till and fertilize the soil you already have?

The last place I lived the house had been around for close to 100 years. Thats 100 years of humans using a 1/2 acre plot to fix cars, wash cloths, have sewage over flows, car mechanic mishaps, etc. The soil was not one that I would want to get food from.

Also, when I moved to my current location if you watch the builders you see they first put down a foot or two of red clay/dirt/rock. Its no good for growing. Even if it was, after they get done building the house they have to grade the outside and have all kinds of construction debris that gets mixed in and covered up. You can't trust what you don't know.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#180

Post by 0xffff2 »

bluGill wrote: post #160
afrodc_ wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is tilling bad for the soil? Genuinely curious as I've seen it as an option for my terrible salty clay soil at my house.

Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided. On a different note, tilling also costs large amounts of energy. The less tilling your do, the less CO2 you are putting into the atmosphere (even if you d…

>Because it destories the root structure built up in the ground over the years. Those roots then break down quickly, and in turn the whole microbe profile is different. Sometimes tilling is still the best thing to do, but it isn't a good thing and should be avoided.

Does this still apply when talking about farming? I just started growing food this year, but once I've harvested the first crop and am planting the second crop of the season, the roots in the ground are surely going to break down quickly in any case, because I've harvested all of their tops, no?

>even if you do the tilling by hand with a shovel you are still emitting more CO2 than if you just sat in your easy-chair

I'm sorry, what? By that logic I should also never exercise.

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