Farmbot - Automated farming for individuals.

[Ares]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r0CiLBM1o8

Link to video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8r0CiLBM1o8

[midnight rambler]

Would love to see this applied to aquaponics.

[Glass]

Would love to see this applied to aquaponics.

I guess aquaponics does this via the automated water flow systems, however aquaponics doesn't have an automated planting method built in.

I think the planting system, while cool, is a fairly small part of the overall system, so you could potentially do without that capability. By that I mean, it is only used for a small time in the over all scheme of things.

I see that this system really excels for soil based growing. I do question whether it is really providing an overly technical solution for something that could be done relatively easily by hand - planting seeds is not complicated if you have a plan and the machine needs the plan before it can do anything. Also the watering could be controlled with appropriate reticulation - size of flow, targeted flow and soil moisture sensors to manage watering frequency.

Anyway if it helps geeks enjoy and want to do gardening and it's solar powered and generally eco efficient I don't see anything negative about it. It's cool techy.

[Ares]

I guess aquaponics does this via the automated water flow systems, however aquaponics doesn't have an automated planting method built in.

I think the planting system, while cool, is a fairly small part of the overall system, so you could potentially do without that capability. By that I mean, it is only used for a small time in the over all scheme of things.

I see that this system really excels for soil based growing. I do question whether it is really providing an overly technical solution for something that could be done relatively easily by hand - planting seeds is not complicated if you have a plan and the machine needs the plan before it can do anything. Also the watering could be controlled with appropriate reticulation - size of flow, targeted flow and soil moisture sensors to manage watering frequency.

Anyway if it helps geeks enjoy and want to do gardening and it's solar powered and generally eco efficient I don't see anything negative about it. It's cool techy.

Being a techy I love a lot of things that are automated. It keeps track of soil moisture, kills weeds and does all the planting. Think bigger though, automation could completely revolutionize how we produce food.

If they could mount low power lasers (1 to 5 watt 480nm to 500nm) it could even kill insects without damaging the plants. Having a machine do that would totally eliminate the need for pesticides, and have it perform the weed management. You've got a completely automated growing system with very little effort, organic and sustainable.

[SWRichmond]

Open source = big agra and grocery giants cant buy the patent and kill it.

In a few years I'll be rearranging my raised beds to accommodate this. Extremely effing cool.

[madfranks]

Even though it's open source, it seems too complicated for the average joe to figure out and assemble. I sense a huge business opportunity here for young people looking to start a business. Study this thing inside out and become an expert in how it's built, how it works, how it's maintained, etc. Then sell your service whereby you make and install it, for a fee. No doubt there's a market for this across the country.

[vacuum]

Wow, this is the best thing I've seen in a long time.

[brosil]

Brilliant! It's not what I was looking at doing but totally brilliant. Looks like I need a 3d printer.

[JohnQPublic]

Brilliant! It's not what I was looking at doing but totally brilliant. Looks like I need a 3d printer.

You can buy a kit. I am not sure if it includes all the parts or not.

This would work well in a greenhouse also.

[JohnQPublic]

This is more for a community project:


https://youtu.be/VlcijvWRJGU

http://www.farmfromabox.com/

[Dogman]

Nice !


But I feel there will always be a need for a human getting soil under fingertips will be needed in the loop!

There are already small home counter top grow machines that provide correct light, water, and stuff automatically but very small scale. Those kits are scaled down from larger systems already in use!

The op is cool, if one has the patch of land needed for use , but suspect that for the same sq footage and far less cost a small greenhouse using tiered stacks for growing would produce more.

Sorta a scaled down version of what the large commercial growers use. Added benefit is a 24/7/365 growing season but the downside is it takes space and needs a human in the loop!

That human is called a gardener !