World's First Open Source Farming Robot

World's First Open Source Farming Robot.

Jan 10, 2022
Agriculture, Technology

The Engineer(s) Behind FarmBot

The idea came from a graduate student who was beginning his studies in mechanical engineering together with organic agriculture at 22 years old.

How it works on the farm

As the inventor says, the technology "is like a big 3D printer, but for the plants"

FarmBot Parts - the brains & the movable joints.

The technology is composed of a Raspberry Pi computer about little $30 computer and that's the brain of farm bot, and then the a microcontroller the Arduino, both ramped in a protective shield, to protect the electronics from the environmental factors; and then the stepper motors which allow it to move in the three dimensions; and then on the back is a rotary encoders, which allows farm bot to know if something goes wrong route tracks for ease of movement, gantry that's which is connected to a magnetic tool head that can pick up these tools: seed injector, soil sensor, and watering nozzle for watering the plants too. These models are available for anyone who would like to print them out. You can check out the hardware components here
User Interface & Web Application

The hardware parts of the technology allows interaction from anywhere in the world with the use of their remote web application built on a dynamically typed language (scripting language) known as Ruby and they used the Ruby on Rails framework. The best part of it is that the code is Open source for the anyone to fork on GitHub and use them and distribute it as it is or in any modified form as stated in their license. You can easily graphically design your farm by dragging and dropping plants into the map. The game-like interface is learned in just a few minutes so you’ll have the whole growing season planned in no time. Their is also software documentation available for users. You can also check out information on the software here

How to get the FarmBot

As said earlier the project is fully open source and anyone can use it as they wish to improve the underlying technology and add other implementations. To get this product one can:

DIY (Do It Yourself)

You can decide and download all the print models and buy them because all of the materials required are readily available including the aluminium structures except from the 3D printed models which you'll have to acquire a 3D printer to produce them. The 3D printer together with the other materials required will cost you upto USD 1000, which is KES 113400 as of today's Kenya's currency market, as the owner stated in an interview. The setup can be done in under an hour and you are good to go. Check out the acquisitions here
Order from their website

As from their website, they sell two bot model prototypes, that is, Express (the bot for everyone) and Genesis(their most advanced kit). The prices for them are outline in the following section.

Pricing

These are the different prices of the various prototypes they make:

Express v1.1

Pre-order = $1,695.00 (using PayPal)
Pay in full or in 4 interest-free installments of $423.75 using ShopPay.

FarmBot Express v1.1 is their lowest cost FarmBot with the shortest setup time. Express is suitable for mobile or fixed raised beds at schools, research labs, and in small backyards.

Tech specs:

Max serviceable area: ~1.1m x ~2.7m
Max plant height: ~0.5m
Machine width: Up to 1.2m
Machine length: Up to 3m
Machine height: 0.5 to 1.5m
Hardware version: v1.1

More information can be found here
Express XL v1.1

Pre-Order = $2,195.00
Pay in full or in 4 interest-free installments of $548.75

FarmBot Express XL is their most economical FarmBot in terms of area covered per dollar, offering 4x the growing area compared to Express. Express XL is suitable for fixed raised beds at schools, research labs, and backyards.

Tech specs:

Max serviceable area: ~2.3m x ~5.7m
Max plant height: ~0.5m
Machine width: Up to 2.4m
Machine length: Up to 6m
Machine height: 0.5 to 1.5m
Hardware version: v1.1

More information can be found here
Genesis v1.6

Pre-order = $3,495.00
Pay in full or in 4 interest-free installments for orders between $50 and $3000

They refer to it as the "flagship kit for prosumers and enthusiasts". FarmBot Genesis v1.6 covers 125% the area of Express and has more advanced features and customization options. Suitable for fixed or mobile raised beds in classrooms, research labs, and small backyards.

Tech Specs

Max growing area: ~1.4m x ~2.9m
Max plant height: ~0.5m
Machine width: Up to 1.5m
Machine length: Up to 3m
Machine height: 0.5 to 1.5m
Hardware version: v1.6

More information can be found here
Genesis XL v1.6

Pre-Order = $5,295.00 Pay in full or in 4 interest-free installments for orders between $50 and $3000

Our flagship kit for prosumers and enthusiasts, Genesis XL covers 125% the area of Express XL and has more advanced features and customization options. Covering 4x the area of Genesis, Genesis XL can grow enough veggies for a family of four, provides ample room for student competitions, and can take research experiments to new scale. Suitable for fixed installations only.

Tech Specs:

Max growing area: ~2.9m x ~5.9m
Max plant height: ~0.5m
Machine width: Up to 3m
Machine length: Up to 6m
Machine height: 0.5 to 1.5m
Hardware version: v1.6

More information can be found here

Note:

FOR INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS OUTSIDE THE USA:
You will need to pay additional import taxes and/or duties on this item. FarmBot Inc. does not have a tax collection relationship with your country or territory.