If you think CNC technology is limited to the realm of the CNC turning centre, Farmbot is likely to change your mind: This revolutionary machine is set to automate backyard food production and bring interested consumers one step closer to food sovereignty. Aimed at devout ‘makers’ and those who lack the time to engage in manual gardening, Farmbot Genesis, which will be released in early 2017, will allow users to design the vegetable garden of their dreams from behind a computer screen—and then simply ask Farmbot to plant and maintain it. According to Farmbot’s creators, the machine ‘Is designed to be a flexible FarmBot foundation for experimentation, prototyping, and hacking. The driving factors behind the design are simplicity, manufacturability, scalability, and hackability.’
Farmbot boasts the following features:
-A simple ‘drag and drop’ farming interface. Unlike a traditional CNC turning centre, Farmbot does not require any programming expertise to use; in fact, if you can operate a smartphone, you can set up and run Farmbot. Farmbot features a ‘game-like’ interface that can be learned in just minutes; all users have to do to plant their crops is drag and drop images of plants onto an on-screen map—Farmbot will then arrange them properly and help the user to prepare them for planting.
-Easy-to-manage growing regimens. Farmbot will take care of plants throughout their lifecycle through the implementation of scheduled sequences that take all of the ‘guess work’ out of raising crops. These sequences can be saved and reused later at any time. Farmbot can sew seeds, water them at regular intervals, and do everything else required to make a wide variety of vegetables grow optimally.
-Open-source software. While Farmbot itself is (understandably) fairly costly, with a price tag of $3000 U.S. dollars, users will never have to invest in pricey, limiting proprietary software on top of purchasing the CNC farming machine itself. Farmbot users will be free to change and update the machine’s software, build their own CNC farming machines from scratch, etc.
-Real-time control. While Farmbot automates much of the farming process, it doesn’t take control out of the user’s hands; users are free to ‘Move FarmBot and operate its tools in real-time with the manual controls.’ This means that users can respond actively to real-time situations; according to Farmbot’s creators, manual control can be used to ‘Scare birds away from work or, next time friends are over, pull out your phone for a quick and impressive demo.’
Even if Farmbot isn’t for everyone—after all, many people enjoy manual gardening, and it’s certainly the cheaper option—projects such as this are vitally important for expanding our perceptions of CNC technology. Experimental machines like Farmbot take CNC out of the realm of the CNC turning centre and into the everyday lives of average people, helping to open the eyes of the general population to the wondrous possibilities of CNC and inspiring the next generation of CNC innovators.
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