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Open Source Farming Robot

farm.bot

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61–70 of 236 posts

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#61

Post by dhicks6345789 »

taylorfinley wrote: post #10

I know cnc and farming, and I really don't see this product surviving. I can't find a shovel that lasts more than a few months on my small farm, I don't know how a big 3d printer is going to cut it in anything like real agricultural conditions. I would love to be wrong though, garden robots would be great, especially if they had lasers for slugs. Actually, forget the rest of the robot, all I really want is a slug las…

> all I really want is a slug laser

Even better: a slug-hunting robot powered by fermented slugs:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~eli/tmp/slugbot.html

The project is from circa-2000, I remember being impressed by the idea at the time, and I'd have thought slug-hunting robots would be more of a common thing by now - turns out robotics for agriculture are hard.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#62

Post by mytailorisrich »

bobiny wrote: post #47
mytailorisrich wrote: post #23

From the video, I'm puzzled why they would water plants with a robotic nozzle spraying on the plant/leaves. Watering works better the way it does now: run a pipe along the plants and water the soil.

Leaves probably want some moisture too. If you run pipes straight to the stem you'll have to rearrange them each time you changes here individual plants are which is harder to automate.

Well, my understanding (and common advice) is actually not to water the leaves at all if possible as that has no benefit apart from helping diseases set in.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#63

Post by the_only_law »

taylorfinley wrote: post #10

I know cnc and farming, and I really don't see this product surviving. I can't find a shovel that lasts more than a few months on my small farm, I don't know how a big 3d printer is going to cut it in anything like real agricultural conditions. I would love to be wrong though, garden robots would be great, especially if they had lasers for slugs. Actually, forget the rest of the robot, all I really want is a slug las…

> I would love to be wrong though, garden robots would be great, especially if they had lasers for slugs

I’ve had a similar idea before, for roaches, but I’m just not sure how it could work. Surely any laser with enough power output to kill something would cause a decent amount of collateral as well?

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#64

Post by schmorptron »

lifty wrote: post #59
mikepurvis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a fellow backyard raised bed hipster, part of the point for me is going out and tending it. I struggle to see the value in this unless it’s about scaling.

You will tend the robot instead.

Ah, the Minecraft Modpack methodology.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#65

Post by nobody_nowhere »

kortex wrote: post #34

I've built robots. I've built greenhouses. I like software and the occasional bit of farming. Thirs looks cute and fun, and I hope they iterate, but it's not really solving the right problems, and introduces its own. 1 - there are no straight lines on a farm. Maybe in a hydro setup built on concrete slab, in which case, why robot? 2 - needs a way to cover more ground. If it's not able to travel linearly indefinitely…

Re the weeding robot -- you may be thinking of https://tertill.com

iRobot founders' new thing. Small, and undercapitalized, but promising.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#66

Post by tony0x02 »

kortex wrote: post #34

I've built robots. I've built greenhouses. I like software and the occasional bit of farming. Thirs looks cute and fun, and I hope they iterate, but it's not really solving the right problems, and introduces its own. 1 - there are no straight lines on a farm. Maybe in a hydro setup built on concrete slab, in which case, why robot? 2 - needs a way to cover more ground. If it's not able to travel linearly indefinitely…

And probably in mining too

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#67

Post by sgt »

bobiny wrote: post #47
mytailorisrich wrote: post #23

From the video, I'm puzzled why they would water plants with a robotic nozzle spraying on the plant/leaves. Watering works better the way it does now: run a pipe along the plants and water the soil.

Leaves probably want some moisture too. If you run pipes straight to the stem you'll have to rearrange them each time you changes here individual plants are which is harder to automate.

Just use an automated irrigation controller with misters.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#68

Post by justsomeperson »

kortex wrote: post #34

I've built robots. I've built greenhouses. I like software and the occasional bit of farming. Thirs looks cute and fun, and I hope they iterate, but it's not really solving the right problems, and introduces its own. 1 - there are no straight lines on a farm. Maybe in a hydro setup built on concrete slab, in which case, why robot? 2 - needs a way to cover more ground. If it's not able to travel linearly indefinitely…

How about something like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spidercam

Where it can be suspended above the field and moved to any point above the plant and can be raised as crops grow?

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#69

Post by kortex »

lifty wrote: post #59
mikepurvis wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a fellow backyard raised bed hipster, part of the point for me is going out and tending it. I struggle to see the value in this unless it’s about scaling.

You will tend the robot instead.

When you start off playing Stardew Valley but end up playing Factorio/Satisfactory.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#70

Post by bobiny »

nickspacek wrote: post #44
kortex wrote: post #34

I've built robots. I've built greenhouses. I like software and the occasional bit of farming. Thirs looks cute and fun, and I hope they iterate, but it's not really solving the right problems, and introduces its own. 1 - there are no straight lines on a farm. Maybe in a hydro setup built on concrete slab, in which case, why robot? 2 - needs a way to cover more ground. If it's not able to travel linearly indefinitely…

I always thought these folks might be onto something, though I'm not sure how successful the approach has been: https://www.opensourceecology.org/

I follow them for some time, they seem to be doing something, but I don't understand their grand vision.
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