Agri Kultuur July / Julie 2016 | Page 19

Genesis slides along tracks installed alongside the garden box, with the main arm also shifting left and right and popping down into the soil to perform its various functions. Once given instructions, FarmBot can be left to its own devices to follow the planting and watering schedules you picked until the veggies are ready to harvest. FarmBot is controlled via a web app that uses a Farmville-esque visual grid, letting you drag and drop the kind of plants you want into your digital garden. Genesis has 33 common crops loaded into its software so far and it automatically spaces the varying plants appropriately, taking the guesswork out of having a diverse garden. The app can be accessed from a computer, phone, or tablet, so you can adjust your plan from anywhere and send it to your backyard ‘robotic gardener’. Genesis is the first commercial version of this autonomous gardening idea, allowing for planting spaces up to 2.9 meters × 1.4 meters, with a maximum plant height of 0.5 meters. It’s an all-in-one kit with nearly everything you need to get started, including all the metal and 3D-printed pieces—the nozzles, motors, belts, and pulleys—a Raspberry Pi 3 computer, and plenty more. You’ll need to build your own planter bed following the specifications, as well as provide the water, electricity, and Internet sources. Programmer or engineering know-how not required: The kit comes with a step-by-step guide. At the time of publishing, the kit could be purchased at a special pre-order rate of $2900 and an international shipping flat rate of $250 https://farmbot.io/pre-order/ Acknowledgements: https://farmbot.io/ www.3ders.org/.../20160613-3d-printed-farmbotgenesis-lets-you-cultivate-crops-in-...