Open Source Farming Robot
An open source gantry-style “FarmBot” for raised garden beds is drawing both admiration for its engineering and skepticism about its practicality. Commenters praise the Elixir/BEAM- and Nerves-based stack and see clear value for education, research, and robotics hobbyists, but argue that at several thousand dollars per kit it automates mainly watering and seeding while neglecting harder problems like weeding, pests, plant diversity, and scaling beyond small gardens. Many conclude that traditional gardening or simpler drip irrigation offers better value for food production, positioning FarmBot more as a sophisticated tech toy or research platform than a tool for real-world farming.
Overall impressions and use cases
- Many find FarmBot an interesting, well-presented open-source engineering project, especially appealing to “robot people” and education/research settings.
- Several commenters say it’s better viewed as a gardening gadget or teaching tool than as a serious farming solution.
- Some hobbyists would rather build a similar system themselves than buy the commercial kit.
Cost, scalability, and ROI
- Repeated criticism that the hardware is very expensive for the area covered (e.g., ~$3–4.5k per bed, 4.5–18 m²).
- Yield analysis link suggests ~549 m² to feed a family of four; commenters calculate this would require ~31 XL bots and over $130k, plus maintenance.
- Many argue that simple drip/soaker hoses with timers handle watering for a tiny fraction of the cost.
Gardening vs. farming / target users
- Farmers and serious gardeners say the system doesn’t address real labor bottlenecks (bed prep, mulching, pest control, large-scale weeding, harvest).
- Viewed as unsuitable for commercial farms or even small market gardens; better for tech hobbyists, students, or niche research.
Watering approach and plant health
- Strong debate over spraying leaves vs. watering soil:
- Some insist overhead leaf-watering encourages fungi and is poor practice for vegetables; drip irrigation and soil-level watering are preferred.
- Others note rain naturally wets leaves and overhead irrigation is common at scale; “water droplets burn leaves via magnifying-glass effect” is called a myth.
- Consensus that FarmBot’s current watering approach is suboptimal but could, in principle, be adapted.
Weeding and capabilities
- Many see lack of robust autonomous weeding as a major flaw; existing “rotary tool” attachment is seen as too manual or light-duty.
- System can’t cope with tall crops (tomatoes, corn), tree crops, livestock, or large areas; gantry design doesn’t scale well.
Tech stack, openness, and design
- Software runs on the BEAM (Erlang/Elixir) with Nerves; some praise this for robustness and unified app/ops model.
- Hardware and software are open source, but plant data sources are noted as unmaintained.
- Gantry choice is questioned; some suggest mobile rovers, circular/center-pivot-like systems, cable-bots, or hydroponic towers as more scalable architectures.
Broader critiques
- Several call it “Juicero for gardening” or “nerds solving non-problems,” arguing that gardening effort is low at this scale and often enjoyable.
- Concerns about durability outdoors, maintenance burden, web-app dependency for a “self-sufficiency” product, and slick, dramatic marketing.