College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Industrial Engineering
Date
6-2017
Primary Advisor
James Widmann
Abstract/Summary
FarmBot Inc. is a local startup that is advancing precision agriculture through automation and open source technology. The original FarmBot model, FarmBot Genesis, operates over a rectangular area of 3 x 1.5 meters. It plants, waters, weeds and grows produce autonomously using CNC technology. Our project sponsor and inventor of FarmBot, Rory Aronson, tasked our team with developing and testing a polar coordinate farmbot capable of performing on par with the Cartesian farmbot in growing a circular vegetable garden in a user’s backyard. A successful project was defined by meeting specific customer requirements and engineering specifications predetermined and discussed with our sponsor. The customer requirements include: a central pivot, accurate planting, scalable farming area, off the shelf parts, and easy customization by the user. Some of the most important polar farmbot engineering specifications include a minimum farmable area of 4.5 m2 , maximum cost of $2200, rotational range of at least 360 degrees, and an average velocity of .5 meters per second.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/imesp/205