Not everything is free and open-source is good in robotics, but some of these projects are more helpful than you can think and can lead to a new industry where anyone can contribute with new ideas and new functionalities for complete systems able to work autonomously. A new project makes me think that the food production with robots is on the right path with an open and accessible technology able to grow food for everyone using autonomous systems.
FarmBot Genesis is an open-source project in development phase ready to explore the world of autonomous and accurate farming machines able to grow plants using sensors, electric motors and many programming lines instead using a homemade agricultural tool such as a hoe. Its systems are closer to a 3D printer, but instead using plastic extruders, the machine uses tools such as seed injectors, watering nozzles, plows, and a wide range of sensors.
FarmBot – The Open-Source Farming Machine
The agricultural robot is still in development phase following to be released in the mid-2014.
How to enter the physical agriculture in the digital world easier than a drag and drop web-based interface engineered to design garden layouts from any device. All the operations in the field are auto-scheduled in order to ensure a constant maintenance of plants.
Grow a community that produces free and open-source hardware plans, software, data, and documentation enabling everyone to build and operate a farming machine.
All the functionalities are fully optimized and run autonomously starting with the adjustment of water, and up to fertilized operation and pesticide regimens. In the same area, enter the monitoring systems able to detect the soil and water conditions, as well as seed spacing and timing.
Inside the open-source robot, others very popular embedded systems work hardly to control the motors, sensors, and many other components for agricultural activities. This is an interesting couple between Arduino and Raspberry Pi. This duo system created from these single board computers can be programmed for a variety of operations including soil preparation, seeding, control or data acquisition.
Applications
This project can be extended to a wide range of commercial and industrial applications including here urban rooftops, retrofitted greenhouses, or small raised beds. The FarmBot robot is based on a modular and scalable design able to work in any situation.