Modern, large-scale farming is often criticised for the depleting effects it can have on the land, the chemicals it uses and the impact it can have on wildlife. For people who would like to take back control over where and how their food is grown but lack the skills or time to do so, a company has developed a novel solution: a personal robot farmer.
Called FarmBot Genesis, it is described as “the world’s first open-source, CNC farming machine”, designed to grow food in an automated and precise fashion.
Aimed at individuals, families and small-scale commercial farmers, the system is like a very large 3D printer, says FarmBot founder Rory Aronson. “But instead of extruding plastic, FarmBot plants seeds, waters them, and uses sensors to learn about the soil, the plants and the environment in order to farm smarter,” he says.
The robot moves around in the X, Y, Z space, 24/7, growing and tending to crops. To achieve the kind of flexibility required for such tasks, the team has developed a universal tool-mounting system to allow the robot to automatically switch between tools. So far, these include a watering nozzle, seed injector, soil sensor and weeding tool, but more can be added.
Core electronics include a Raspberry Pi computer, an Arduino Mega microcontroller and a RepRap Arduino Mega Pololu Shield board. These are combined with a powerful Nema 17 stepper motor and rotary encoder tools, so that the robot can precisely sow seeds, with millimetre accuracy, in any pattern or density. It will then water each plant based on its type, age, soil, local weather and the user’s growing preferences.
This system allows the robot to grow a wide variety of crops in the same area at the same time – an agricultural concept known as polyculture, which lowers the risk of plants’ susceptibility to disease and increases local biodiversity.
A camera and advanced computer vision software allow the robot to monitor the garden and detect weeds when they emerge. It will then bury them under the soil.
FarmBot is built from corrosion-resistant aluminium, stainless steel and 3D printed plastic so it can operate in harsh, outdoor conditions. It can run off mains electricity from a wall outlet, or be powered with a small, 100W solar system. If it encounters a problem or a loss of power, the owner will receive an email notification.
Users must build and set up the robot, but this process doesn’t require any coding or technical know-how. If you can build Ikea furniture, then you can build and use a FarmBot, says Aronson.
The system is operated via a web-based interface, with a user-friendly sequence builder and scheduler to plan seed injection, watering and regimens to take care of a plant throughout its life. The user can tell the robot how to take care of a specific plant, or import a growing guide from OpenFarm.cc.
The game-like, drag-and-drop farm designer allows users to graphically design the layout of the plants, then press a button to get the robot to do the rest.
Importantly for the FarmBot team, the hardware and software platform are open-source and can be modified and expanded, with all the plans and 3D CAD models free to download and alter. There is also a community Wiki page and forum for users to collaborate and share modification ideas. “Because food is a fundamental need for all humans, I think open-source is the best way to empower people to truly own their food,” says Aronson.
A FarmBot costs $3,100 – a big investment for many families. However, the company plans to offer larger and lower-cost devices in late 2017.
Spotlight – a growing trend
The world needs to produce at least 50% more food to feed a population of 9 billion people by 2050, says the World Bank. This is prompting increased investment in agriculture technology. Research carried out by AgFunder, an online investment platform, found that investment in agriculture technology startups in the US reached $4.6 billion in 2015, nearly doubling 2014 levels.
Spending was found to be focused on drones and robotics and irrigation and water technology.