3.4 KiB
Priorities
#1: Femto (DIY kit)
+ Features
- Bolt-on module to a DIY barn/pen; will support salatin-style tractors
- Automation that's fit for leaving for a weekend
- Mounting for water tank (as ballast)
? How
- Basic automation of movement
- Timer-based?
- Odometry?
- Basic automation of steering
- Set-it-and-forget-it ...
- "Manual vision" (networked camera for aiming, manually pick a target)
- Coulters?
- Corn/row crop feelers?
- Mounting for water
- Solar panel, charger, onboard battery
- Pushbutton / LCD interface on-device
- Slow-mode manual vision
- Probable Limitations
- No auto-turn-around
! Problems
- Balance of the barn
- Front-end 'mow through' ability
Development path
- Majorly refine steering system - $2000 of materials, ??? time
- Motors / electric actuators - $1000
- Frame - $500
- Solidify drive system - $2000 of materials, ??? time
- Spec motors and jack and get suppliers - $2000 of materials, ??? time
- Develop electronics - $2000 of materials, ??? time
- App development
- Handoff to electronics CMs
- Handoff to hardware CMs
- Find beta-test farmers
8hr sit down and make the perfect design from scratch 16hr find the best components 8hr dfm that shit and make drawings 16hr build the thing, $1000 of materials 2hr install that shit
-> 1st prototype in 50hr + $1k
5hr go back to the drawing board again and fix it 5hr dfm the hell out of it 16hr build the thing again
-> 2nd prototype in 24hr + $600
16hr design the awesome control board bang it out in kicad 5hr agonize over the control box 8hr build it all
-> 1st electrical prototype in 30hr + $500
#2: Pico (Chickens only)
+ Features
- Same drive module as the Femto
- Really nice robust chicken tractor
Development path
- All the stuff in femto plus:
- Develop electronics
- Redesign frame with cost-down in mind
#3: Nano (Small multispecies for intercropping)
+ Features
- Metal barn
- Pigs on slats
- Sheep in front
- Chickens in back
- Interfaces with standard panels so you can add width
- 4WD platform. Keep weight on the drive tires.
Development path
Steering
Ways to do steering:
- Vision: drive towards a flag / pole
- Vision: drive towards ground markers
- Vision: drive along a painted line
- Vision: drive along a mowed path so much SWE effort...
- "Corn head" feelers (can this work in a broadacre setup somehow?)
- Taut tether
- Wheel encoder feedback
- Dig a trench
- TOF Triangulation
- GPS / RTK *can you set up your own RTK base station? Probably. *
- Follow a buried wire
- Coulters / stabilizer wheels
- Coulters with pressure sensors
- Ridge-till
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0lvag00HYY
Remember you're only using steering a small portion of the time. You could use a floodlight in conjunction with retroreflective tape.
This should be non-obnoxious though.
Telemetry
- Why have telemetry? Lets you know if the barn is stuck. Lets you force a move. Maybe you want cameras?
- Need long range, but not a lot of bandwidth (unless you want video)
- WiFi isn't the right solution for this, LoRa is
- Have a LoRa base-station in your office/shed... this could be an internet gateway or a PC-link...
Hold the presses. Stop it all. Everything.
Make a walker.
Lots of advantages. So many Big problem is how do you turnaround / tow it And maybe the answer there is "tow it" for the farmer but not for the homesteader omnidirectional walking mechanism?
hey lol remember the screw drive? The one Fordson made. Maybe for the nano