Difference between revisions of "Agronimo"

Revision as of 09:34, 14 March 2018

Jacob Springs and Agronimo's prototype Henmulator arduino controlled incubator

Agronimo, launched summer 2015, at Jacob Springs Farm is a loose organization of farmers, makers and tinkerers who seek to overthrow the conventional structures of agricultural technology through the development of open-source software and hardware that directly benefits sustainable, smallholder farms. By creating open platforms in areas like automation, agricultural monitoring and field data collection, farmers can access technological innovation previously thought to be too expensive or inaccessible for anyone but the largest farms to utilize. Community-based development of these platforms makes them more responsive to farmer need, and keeping platforms open-source allows for customization and improvement of technology without the fear of intellectual property disputes or elongated product feedback cycles.

In short, Agronimo is attempting to develop software and hardware tools to make the life of the farmer easier, especially for those farmers seeking sustainable alternatives to conventional agricultural systems.

Projects

• Eggmobile Controller with door closing, water monitoring and (eventually) feed metering
• henmulator - hack an old, non-functional refridgerator into a large incubator using microwave parts and embedded systems
  • Recently: rebuilding control unit on a particle photon platform for better web integration
• Managewater - using inexpensive embedded systems to monitor and control a farms water system
• Milk cooling chest - hack a chest freezer into an effective milk cooler
  • to do: rebuild control unit on a particle photon platform for better web integration
• Andre and Elias (Vanee and Andre's eldest son) are working on a Crocodile robot for fun and experience.

• Chick brooder to automate caring for tiny chicks
• Control Room to measure and regulate temperature, ventilation, lighting and humidity in a mushroom growing room (the cottage cellar)

as we develop it we intend to make presets for cheese aging, meat aging and possibly other environments.

Techniques

• Jugad irrigation - build simple, low-pressure irrigation systems using recycled or scavenged PVC or other type plastic pipe

CU Student Projects

• Eggmobile Controller with door closing, water monitoring and (eventually) feed metering
• Chick brooder to automate caring for tiny chicks
• Automatic chicken door - incomplete
• water sensor
• Electric fence

google

Open source farm program models

• Eggmobile

Future Project To-Do List

• Sprinkler Controller with pressure pump controller and moisture tracking
• Updated Milk cooling chest controller
• Rain and weather monitor
• Display and control center
• Dog feeder (prototype for other feeders)
• Feed protein calculator phone app and controller for chicken feeder

Resources

• Useful Technology