FARMBOT GENESIS
HUMANITY’S FIRST OPEN-SOURCE CNC FARMING MACHINE
Meet FarmBot
Rigid and lightweight, FarmBot Genesis is constructed from durable aluminum extrusions and 5mm thick connecting plates. Coupled with powerful NEMA 17 stepper motors and rotary encoders, the system can precisely position tools in the XYZ space with millimeter accuracy.
Take an Interactive 3D Tour of FarmBot
Farm from Anywhere
Control and configure FarmBot with any device
Drag & Drop Farming
Graphically design your farm by dragging and dropping plants into the map. The game-like interface is learned in just a few minutes so you’ll be growing in no time. Plants are automatically spaced and growing regimens can be applied upon planting.
Growing Regimens
Build complete regimens for taking care of a plant throughout its lifetime by scheduling sequences to run when a plant is a certain age. Regimens can be reused, saving you time and effort during replanting.
Sequence Building
Quickly and easily create custom sequences of operations to take full advantage of your hardware – no programming is required. Simply drag and drop basic operations and other sequences together, adjust the parameters to your liking, and save.
Real-Time Control
Move FarmBot and operate its tools in real-time with the manual controls. Scare birds away from work or next time friends are over, pull out your phone for a quick and impressive demo.
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Integrated with OpenFarm
FarmBot uses public domain crop and growing information from OpenFarm.cc
100% Open-Source
FarmBot is yours, through and through
Design Files
We’ve published all of the CAD and manufacturing files used to make FarmBot so you can make and modify your own parts. All CAD files are in the public domain under CC0.
Software Source Code
Help us build new features, fork the code for your own custom mods, or host the web app locally for true off-grid independence. All software is under the MIT license.
Documentation
Know FarmBot inside and out with our step-by-step assembly instructions, bill of materials, and tech specs of every part. All documentation is in the public domain under CC0.
DIY Friendly Hardware
FarmBot parts are easy to source, make, and modify yourself
Familiar Electronics
FarmBot is powered by a Raspberry Pi 3, Arduino Mega 2560, and RAMPS 1.4 shield.
3D Printable
All of FarmBot’s plastic components are designed to be 3D printed with hobby level FDM printers.
Flat Plates
FarmBot’s flat connecting plates can be made with a waterjet, plasma, or laser cutter; CNC mill; or even a hacksaw and drill press.
Scalable
FarmBot can scale larger in any direction with additional hardware, or smaller for tighter growing spaces.
Want to build your own?
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Interchangeable Tooling
These ones come standard. What will you create?
The Universal Tool Mount
Featuring 12 electrical connections, three liquid/gas lines, and magnetic coupling.
Seed Injection
Powered by a vacuum pump, the seeder sows with millimeter accuracy.
Watering
Precision water your plants with the gentle shower of this nozzle.
The Soil Sensor
Measure moisture content to optimize for all soil types and environments.
Camera
FarmBot always keeps its eye on your garden to detect weeds and monitor plant health.
Weed Suppression
This tool physically disrupts and destroys the fragile root systems of infant weeds.
Powered by Community
Help build the open food future with us
Ready for Expansion
Modify and augment FarmBot for your unique growing style and needs
Know the Weather
Gather and use real-time weather data to allow FarmBot to farm smarter.
Go Off-Grid
Take FarmBot off-grid with small solar power and rain collection systems.
Add Lights
Use FarmBot to light up your garden for harvesting, photography, and wow factor!
Learn More
Signup for our email newsletter and we’ll share with you videos and stories of how people use and modify FarmBot at home, commercially, and experimentally!
Infinite Possibilities
How will you use FarmBot?
For Research
Use FarmBot in the lab for precise growing experiments. A/B testing with hundreds of variations has never been easier.
For Food Sovereignty
Use FarmBot on a raised bed, urban rooftop, or in a greenhouse to grow your food exactly the way you want it be grown.
Commercially
Use FarmBot for your small commercial farming business to save labor cost and improve efficiency.
FarmBot vs the Grocery Store
How do they compare?
Yield
By our estimations, one FarmBot Genesis kit (1.5m x 3m in area) can continuously grow all of the veggies for one person’s needs. This is assuming year-round growing.
Sustainability
FarmBot grown veggies create 25% fewer CO2 emissions than standard US veggies. Take FarmBot off-grid and it gets even better.
Cost
FarmBot grown veggies are significantly less expensive than veggies purchased at the grocery store. The return on your investment is estimated to be between three and five years.
Tech Specs
Everything else you need to know
General
- Machine length: Adjustable from 1.5 to 3m
- Machine width: Adjustable from 0.5 to 1.5m
- Machine height: Adjustable from 0.5 to 1.5m
- Max growing area: Approximately 2.9m x 1.4m
- Max plant height: Approximately 0.5m
- All components are protected from rain and made of corrosion resistant materials
- Tool bay slots: 6
- FarmBot tools included: Seeder, Watering Nozzle, Camera, Weeder, and Soil Sensor
- Seed bins included: 2
- Seed pucks included: 2
- Assembly tools included:
- Hex (allen) driver set (1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3mm)
- 8mm and 10mm box wrenches
- 8mm socket and ratchet wrench
- Wire strippers
- Warranty: We are still developing our warranty and will let you know when it is completed. What you need to know now is that if anything goes wrong with your FarmBot that is our fault, we’ll make it right.
What’s in the box
- Black anodized 6063-T5 aluminum extrusions for the tracks, gantry, and z-axis
- Waterjet cut tumble polished 5mm thick 6061 aluminum plates
- Polycarbonate V-wheels with stainless steel rubber sealed ball bearings
- High resolution 3D printed gray plastic waterproof motor housings, support brackets, seed bins, tools, and other plastic components
- Stainless steel hardware (screws, tee nuts, washers, spacers, springs, and setscrews)
- Three NEMA 17 stepper motors with 200 line incremental rotary encoders and wiring harnesses
- GT2 timing belts and aluminum pulleys, 5mm stainless steel driveshaft and lock collars
- Durable plastic cable carriers
- 8mm diameter high tolerance stainless steel leadsrew and delrin block
- 12V, 30A power supply with 110 and 220V AC input
- Rainproof power supply box
- Raspberry Pi 3 computer
- 1.2 GHz 64-bit quad-core ARMv8 CPU
- 1 GB RAM
- 802.11 b/g/n WiFi
- Bluetooth 4.1 Low Energy
- Arduino Mega 2560 Microcontroller
- RAMPS 1.4 shield
- Three pololu stepper drivers with heatsinks
- Jumper pins
- Clear electronics enclosure
- Universal tool mount and cover
- Rubber o-rings and seals
- 12-wire cable
- Flexible tubing
- All tools and UTM and cover
- High resolution 3D printed gray plastic
- Three neodymium ring magnets with 7.59 pounds of pull force each
- Stainless steel hardware
- Seed injector tool
- Vacuum pump
- Tubing
- Watering nozzle tool
- Normally closed solenoid valve
- Adapters for standard US garden hose
- Tubing
- Soil sensor tool
- Moisture meter PCB
- Weeder tool
- Camera and rain-proof mounting hardware
- Two seed bins
- Two seed pucks
- Two 3-slot tool bays
- A variety of organic seeds to get you started
- See the docs for a complete bill of materials, tech specs, and CAD downloads
What you need to provide
- Planter Bed – FarmBot Genesis is designed to attach to a raised bed or similar infrastructure. Materials for this are not included because every installation will be different and it would be very expensive to ship lumber. Check out our docs for help building a raised bed.
- Electricity – The power supply needs to be plugged into a 110V AC or 220V AC GFCI outlet. FarmBot ships with a 30cm (1ft) power cord with a standard US 3-prong plug for 110V AC power. You must connect this to your own extension cord of appropriate length inside the power supply’s rainproof box. Alternatively you can power FarmBot with DC solar power.
- Water – The solenoid valve that controls FarmBot’s watering has a 3/4″ female Garden Hose Thread (GHT) connection, meaning you can take a standard US garden hose and screw it into a spigot and your FarmBot. You will need to provide a hose of the appropriate length. Alternatively you can use FarmBot with collected rain water.
- Internet – FarmBot can only be programmed and controlled using the web application, meaning an active internet connection is required to send and receive data. The Raspberry Pi has built-in WiFi, though you may need to reposition your WiFi router, install a WiFi repeater, or use an ethernet cable to ensure a reliable connection. If you would like to use FarmBot exclusively on your local network you will need to install a local setup of the FarmBot web app.
Shipping
We expect to start shipping July pre-orders in February of 2017, in time for the Spring growing season. Depending on how many pre-orders we receive, we may need to adjust our shipping timelines. If we experience supply chain difficulties, we may need to adjust our shipping timelines. If any delays occur, we will be transparent in letting you know right away. At any time you may request a full refund. Contact us directly with any questions at shipping@farmbot.io.
Product Details
We’re committed to providing you with the highest quality product we can. As we continue to develop and test FarmBot hardware and software, we will make changes. The final product that we ship to you will be different (and better) than the one shown in our videos, photos, and documentation. For reference, what you see in the video is v0.9 hardware and we’re already building a prototype of v1.0! Additionally, some of the software features described are not yet fully functional, though we anticipate them being completed by the time we ship the kits. Expect to hear from us regarding design changes and new features over the next few months; and if you’d like to help out, drop us a line in the forum or on GitHub!
Software
You control and configure FarmBot using the FarmBot web application. We will provide free hosted service at my.farmbot.io until at least 2018. Beyond then, we expect to continue offering a free tier which will be adequate for home growing needs with FarmBot Genesis kits. We may charge for service for commercial or industrial FarmBot usage, for FarmBots larger than 1.5m x 3m in area, and/or for FarmBots growing large numbers of plants concurrently. You are also always welcome to host the web application yourself on your own local or cloud-based server.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's included in the pre-order kits?
FarmBot is open-source, so how is it also for sale?
At the same time, being open-source also allows anyone to sell a compiled version of FarmBot such as a complete kit or hosted software.
In fact, this is really important to do because it gives people options. The truth is that its a lot of work to purchase all of the components from around the Internet yourself, and there wouldn’t be any guarantee that they work with each other. Its also technically challenging to host and maintain the web app software on your own server.
Whereas if you buy a kit, you’ll save a lot of time and get a complete product that is guaranteed to work and backed by our company. Then you get to play with designing new tools and figuring out new ways of using FarmBot, rather than struggling just to get it to work.
Long story short, being open-source and also for sale are not mutually exclusive.
So why should I pre-order a kit?
Additionally, you are supporting our company and the continuation of our work. To date, FarmBot has been a $200,000+ project over three years. This money has come from private foundations and individual contributions to pay for prototyping materials, tools, and our time. This project would not exist without this investment and it will largely stagnate if there are not dedicated people working full-time on the technology. Purchasing a kit from our company allows us to continue openly researching and developing this technology for everyone. We like to say that an investment in us is an investment in humanity.
Do you ship international?
When will I get my kit?
Here is our tentative timeline: We have a 2-3 month lead-time on all the parts. We expect to start ordering them at the end of July and through August, which means we should be able to make the kits around November if everything goes perfectly. But usually stuff doesn't go perfectly, so we gave ourselves 4 months of wiggle room!
Can I extend the tracks or make the gantry wider/taller?
Can FarmBot be used to service multiple beds?
Can FarmBot do X?
Do you have resellers in other countries?
Still have questions?
Own Your Food
Thank You
Our small team of three has worked hard to build something new, exciting, and powerful. We can’t wait to see what you do with FarmBot. Cheers, to the open food future!
– Rory, Rick, and Tim
About Our Company
FarmBot Inc. is a California Benefit Corporation. Coded into our bylaws are these specific benefit purposes.
Openly share our products
Our company is founded on the belief that a more open food system is a better one. The following aspects of our products will be openly shared at the time the product is publicly released:
- Hardware designs shall be released in accordance with the Open Source Hardware Association’s definition of open source hardware.
- Software source code shall be released under a permissive license approved by the Open Source Initiative.
- Documentation shall be released under a license conforming to the definition of “open” put forth by the Open Knowledge Foundation.
Openly share our business
We believe that business is a powerful agent for change, and like our products, it can be more powerful when its details are openly shared for inspection, modification, and replication by others. The following aspects of our business will be shared for the benefit of our company, our customers, aspiring entrepreneurs, and the FarmBot community at large.
- Detailed sales and financial information including but not limited to revenues, expenditures, profits, salaries, investments, and taxes.
- Cultural, operational, and strategic insights that we determine important to our growth and success.
- We will default to transparency in all aspects of our business except when there are individual or partnership privacy concerns.
1% for the community
Each year, we shall contribute one percent (1%) of our annual net revenue towards furthering The FarmBot Project’s mission to “Grow a community that produces free and open-source hardware plans, software, data, and documentation enabling everyone to build and operate a farming machine.” Contributions shall consist of cash, products, and services that directly help to maintain and grow the community.
Be good people
We strive to do the right thing in every situation: for each other, our customers, the environment, and all of our stakeholders. We make ethics, integrity, transparency, and community the cornerstones of our business.
Want to work with us?
Send your resume to careers@farmbot.io
Interested in investment opportunities?
Let us know at investment@farmbot.io
Our Early Supporters
We would not be where we are today without these organizations and individuals. Thank you.
The Shuttleworth Foundation funds dynamic leaders who are at the forefront of social change. They identify amazing people, give them a fellowship grant, and multiply the money they put into their projects by a factor of ten or more. The Shuttleworth Foundation awarded FarmBot's inventor, Rory Aronson, a Fellowship grant allowing him to work full-time on the project for one year starting from March of 2014.
OpenBuilds designs and manufactures the open-source V-Slot and OpenRail linear guide systems and supporting components. They generously donated to the FarmBot Project under their FairShare Program. Show your support for them by visiting their store and browsing their quality components.
Willowfield Enterprises is a food company based in Vancouver, Canada developing world leading Ocean Wise approved aquaculture, sustainable wild fisheries, and other unique foods. It's focus is to be a leader in the development and production of sustainable seafood. You may follow them @wfvcr.
3Design Products is the authorized Western Canadian dealer for Z Corp and 3D Systems line of 3D printing/prototyping products. They are located in Vancouver, Canada and can be followed @3DesignProducts.
Michael Aronson for ideas, parts, support, and tools; Gloria Aronson for support and tools; Kendra Aronson for support; Gabriel Burnworth for technical assistance, 3D printing, support, and ideas; the UPS, FedEx, USPS, and OnTrac folks; the community and resources of SLO MakerSpace; everyone at 880 Upham; Fox.build for space to hack; and Nina Carlino for support.
FarmBot Inc is located at 81 South Higuera Street, Suite 160, in San Luis Obispo, California.
Please read through our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions for Online Offers to Purchase.
Contact us with any questions or concerns at contact@farmbot.io.