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Open Source Farming Robot

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Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#81

Post by bobiny »

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…

Maybe you need 1 robot with wide legs?

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#82

Post by kortex »

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've been following them (for quite some time actually) and I admire their vision, but from what I've observed, they have run out of steam in the past few years.

Also their approach is great if you have a metal shop and lots of raw materials and components ready to go, but for their goal of helping mechanized developing countries, I think it falls flat. The first rule of pricing hardware is economy of scale wins. Being able to fabricobble a farm tractor from a Toyota pickup is way more valuable than building one from scratch using steel box beams.

I think their approach would be better served by creating an "API standard" for mechanical interfaces, like an ISO standard of sorts, so you could fabricobble your prime mover, your bucket loader, your hydraulics, from whatever you happen to have, and be able to swap out with anyone else's peripheral. Like the IDDS, but more down to Earth :) :

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

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#83

Post by randomdata »

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…

> there are no straight lines on a farm.

The simple AB line served the agricultural guidance industry (think GPS) for many years before systems capable of handling complex curves arrived on the market.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#84

Post by ProZsolt »

bobiny wrote: post #72
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.

I get automatic watering, especially in arid climates, but planting and weed plucking is excessive imo.

But automatic watering is a solved problem. You can set up an automatic drip irrigation system very cheaply.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#86

Post by kortex »

oxymoran wrote: post #48
swiley wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think most people want to turn their yard into a serious farm. This is great for backyard gardens. I'd get a smaller table top version for my apartment.

No it’s still pretty useless. If you want a legitimate backyard garden, the rain gutter grow system is the way to go. No robot, no electricity, no weeding, automated watering.

Are you talking about the system where you put buckets above a rain gutter which has a float valve to set the level? E.g.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyOIRVjatdg

That's actually quite clever! Though I'm not sure how they avoid the gutters from turning into algae blooming, mosquito-breeding cesspools. :p

Edit: Oh I guess you can just cover the gutter in plastic and ensure there is enough water throughput to stay fairly fresh: https://permaculturefoodforest.wordpress.com/2016/04/14/rain...

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#87

Post by mikepurvis »

bobiny wrote: post #72
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.

I get automatic watering, especially in arid climates, but planting and weed plucking is excessive imo.

For a small bed like the one in the demonstration, surely that's more simply managed with a drip hose and maybe a timer?

Drip hoses are also better from a water consumption point of view since it goes straight to the soil— you don't lose any to runoff or evaporation.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#88

Post by sgt »

justsomeperson wrote: post #74
sgt wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought the same. Why not just sort out an automated irrigation system, and do the initial seeding manually? Even with a robot there will be manual work like cleaning weeds, pruning, etc.

weeding and pest control is where the real utility for a farm robot would come in.

Yes, good point. Does this open source farm robot spray pesticide?

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#89

Post by dhicks6345789 »

rytis wrote: post #32
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…

Just a crazy idea - they say you can do farming from anywhere using their app. So... What about Farming-as-a-Service. You assign users small patches, where they can do whatever they like, and how they like it, and any surviving vegetables are shipped to them. Sounds silly, and is mostly for lolz, may not be sustainable either, but who knows :) ?...

Here in the UK, allotments are currently back in fashion - garden-sized strips of land assigned to people who rent them for a small amount each year. Currently in demand again, especially in cities where flat-dwellers might not have their own garden - you can spend a few hours a week getting out of the house and getting some exercise / fresh air. A traditional allotment does take a bit of a time commitment, and of course not every day is sunny, and free allotments in some areas are very limited, so maybe combine allotments with a farming robot. Get a parcel of land, maybe a way outside town (but accessible via public transport), split it up into allotments that people can farm daily remotely or come and visit for a nice day out. The sort of thing a farm with a farm shop or pick-your-own operation could diversify into - rent out strips of land for remote users to tinker around on, handle shipping them their ripe produce for a reasonable fee.

Re: Open Source Farming Robot

#90

Post by bluGill »

mikepurvis wrote: post #87
bobiny wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get automatic watering, especially in arid climates, but planting and weed plucking is excessive imo.

For a small bed like the one in the demonstration, surely that's more simply managed with a drip hose and maybe a timer? Drip hoses are also better from a water consumption point of view since it goes straight to the soil— you don't lose any to runoff or evaporation.

Large farms put the hoses in the ground - the water never touches the air (well I assume some will seep to the surface, but not much), instead it is applied only close to the roots. You need to be very careful to apply your seeds just above the hose, but this is a solved problem: modern farming can place each seed to within 2cm of where intended over large fields even when the tractor is planting 50 rows at a time at 20km/h.
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