Garden Robots: I always kina lose my mind a little when I think about this product because my inner techy wants one of these so badly. FarmBot is an open-source CNC gantry and drivetrain system that mounts to a raised bed or similar infrastructure. It comes with an interface so that you can program (drag & drop) the FarmBot to plant, weed, water, fertilize and monitor your garden. If you like tech you’ll love this – Watch their video.
@ZiggityZig there was a test in England of a very small, fully automated farm. Like locked and no humans.. I read an article about it I now (of course) can't find.
@Camerondotca I would really like to see that test. I'm going to see if can find it. Thanks for sharing.
@ZiggityZig FOUND IT! https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-38304842 (or at least a bbc article)
@Camerondotca Cool thanks for locating it. It was written in 2016 so I wonder if their financial prediction came true. "...American report suggested the global market for agricultural robots could be worth £13bn by the year 2020."
@ZiggityZig there is a weird intersection of knowledge in my brain about this. Farm equipment manufactures are locking down equpiment and claiming you own the machine (sort of) but need them to repair/unlock/allow you to use it. There are farmers hacking their own tractors to use them, so I think that roboticism isn't going to be the issue, it's going to be a "software/who owns this thing?" problem.
@Camerondotca I'm all for that. A few months ago I wrote a post on vertical farming which also looks really promising.
@Camerondotca That's a great takeaway, very similar to paying monthly to use Windows 360, Autocad or a plethora of other software.
@ZiggityZig Like i know a guy who has a fixed wing drone he uses to check on water stations/his sheep and fence lines around his paddocks. Now, he's a very nerdy farmer, but they'll use any tool that will make their lives easier.