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this is an upbeat assessment but as someone whos repaired farm equipment and worked on a 40 acre farm, hard no. taylor needs immediate hands on and real world

this is an upbeat assessment but as someone whos repaired farm equipment and worked on a 40 acre farm, hard no. taylor needs immediate hands on and real world farm work experience to try and not only solve a problem but figure out what farms need. most of their efforts feel out of touch...in my personal opinion theyve consumed too much of the marketing of farming. cheap open source implementations are a big plus, but theres a reason we dont use bicycle tires on tractors or equipment. light weight can also be a huge problem after a rainy season or during a storm. oklahoma farms get 50mph gusts and texas farms need to operate +35c. can we survive a lightning strike? if we get lost can we alert other farm traffic were around? can we get accidentally sprayed by a chemical or forgotten somewhere? can we detect a person? taylors robot needs to run on numerous fuels, including diesel or kerosene, to serve small farmers globally. it needs to be a lot more hands on, easy to transport and quick to get visual information from in english and especially spanish. Edit: so ive given it a little more thought and in picking season might be a good candidate!! can we use Taylors robot to detect fatigue or heat stroke? lightning strike detector? live dopplar? respond to accidents, communicate first aid? deliver food and water, or confirm a crop for picking? in short i think taylors offerings a lot more on the human side of farming, like a digital foreman :)

TaylorAlexander 4y ago
Our goal is to take a community oriented approach to farming automation. We’re going to put this vehicle in the hands of people all over the world and together we’ll work on solutions to the various problems you’ve discussed. It does sit outside in hard rain storms all season long, but you’re right that wind could be an issue in some places. I should point out that we’re intending to target regenerative organic farming systems, which are often tended by humans with hand tools or small 15 horsepower two wheeled tractors (like a BCS). At that scale, our one horsepower solar powered system can likely be made to work. But we don’t have to solve every problem ourselves. We’re trying to get this in other peoples hands and the design will evolve as we get feedback from real world farmers and experimenters. Edit: This is the type of farming process we’re targeting. Hopefully that makes it clearer why we believe in our approach: https://youtu.be/1BH0NkN6zHs https://youtu.be/1BH0NkN6zHs
- nimbius 4y ago
  this projects goals are far more sustainable than i assumed, so as an old man im a bit embarrassed at my post. imo its likely an inevitability in scope given climate change that this robot becomes a regular part of harvest. at this scale the tractors allowed to be slower, like a second gen mahindra tiller (or slower) but its also allowed to do a lot more. dont discount the wind though! many farms see a lot. having onboard diagnostics like a printer does might be nice too...quick things like spot weld repairs?
  - TaylorAlexander 4y ago
    Thank you and it’s all good! I appreciate your opinions here and it’s good to challenge our assumptions. I’m glad they stand up to your scrutiny! That means a lot to me. Yeah we may need to add gaps to the solar panels so there’s less surface for wind to grab, and we’ll have to make sure they’re secured nice and tight! I hope we get some customers in windy areas to test and give us feedback too. It’s all about community involvement here. Diagnostics would be great and we do have some of that rolled in to the software now. I’m sure there’s room for more. We are MIG welding the new frames and they should be quick enough to do in the field if needed!

TaylorAlexander 4y ago

Our goal is to take a community oriented approach to farming automation. We’re going to put this vehicle in the hands of people all over the world and together we’ll work on solutions to the various problems you’ve discussed. It does sit outside in hard rain storms all season long, but you’re right that wind could be an issue in some places. I should point out that we’re intending to target regenerative organic farming systems, which are often tended by humans with hand tools or small 15 horsepower two wheeled tractors (like a BCS). At that scale, our one horsepower solar powered system can likely be made to work. But we don’t have to solve every problem ourselves. We’re trying to get this in other peoples hands and the design will evolve as we get feedback from real world farmers and experimenters. Edit: This is the type of farming process we’re targeting. Hopefully that makes it clearer why we believe in our approach: https://youtu.be/1BH0NkN6zHs https://youtu.be/1BH0NkN6zHs

nimbius 4y ago
this projects goals are far more sustainable than i assumed, so as an old man im a bit embarrassed at my post. imo its likely an inevitability in scope given climate change that this robot becomes a regular part of harvest. at this scale the tractors allowed to be slower, like a second gen mahindra tiller (or slower) but its also allowed to do a lot more. dont discount the wind though! many farms see a lot. having onboard diagnostics like a printer does might be nice too...quick things like spot weld repairs?
- TaylorAlexander 4y ago
  Thank you and it’s all good! I appreciate your opinions here and it’s good to challenge our assumptions. I’m glad they stand up to your scrutiny! That means a lot to me. Yeah we may need to add gaps to the solar panels so there’s less surface for wind to grab, and we’ll have to make sure they’re secured nice and tight! I hope we get some customers in windy areas to test and give us feedback too. It’s all about community involvement here. Diagnostics would be great and we do have some of that rolled in to the software now. I’m sure there’s room for more. We are MIG welding the new frames and they should be quick enough to do in the field if needed!