2 min read
October 22, 2020
We are going to change things up, so the last few posts have been about Microsoft Ignite. There is so much more that can be covered, but thought it would be nice to change the direction some. In recent years the concept of being self-sustainable has picked up momentum.
On that topic, I want to present FarmBot. It is a CNC (computer numerical control) Farming tool. This is not sponsored, and I haven't used one. The concept and implementation that is presented that is being called out and why things like this are great. It can even be powered by solar only, Solar FarmBot. The kits start at $1,495.
FarmBot is designed to work in a fixed, raised flowerbed, with a large selection of seeds. It takes a lot of maintenance out of farming. The software is opened sourced, so you can expand on it to provide even more features and functionality. In the baseline, you get a system that is designed to grow common plants found in a flowerbed or garden. It can not just help with plant management and growth, but weed management. So the main thing you would have to do is look at fertilizing, but with it being open-sourced you could expand to have that functionality.
There is a manual mode, and because it has a camera you can do a few things from anywhere, presuming you have set it up to support it. Not just manage what is planted but you can also use it to perform other activities like trying to share birds away.
Now for the fun part. Where could this go? There has been a lot of advancements around AI and drones. You could replace part of these workings with either of them. A car drone could be used for watering, and a flying drone would be a great way to have a birds-eye view and possible scare birds away. This could also be interesting in an aquaponics. setup, if you could get a flying drone or a drone that drove and flew.