I have a farm that produce all sorts of veggies and I would like to automate the production. I would like to know if it is possible and easy to extend the length from 6m to 30 or more ?
Would be tough to do 30m, but 18 should be do-able 
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So what has changed between the XL versions and the Max?
I would really like to know how you justify the price increases. Isn’t it just a little more track, hoses and cable? $3000 increase on MSRP for the Genisis is a lot.
Hi ChrisD
I am sure this question will be asked many times over. I’m not affiliated with Rory and the team, so I’ll have a crack at answering you from an objective (albeit interested) third party perspective.
So what changed between the XL versions and the Max? Hmmmm can I politely ask: have you seen the video dude?
Check out the vid…
The GMAX is looooooooonnnnng.
Following many many emails regarding which Farmbot suits my needs (sorry Marc!!), it was determined I need the functionality of a Genesis, and not an Express. (Location, rainfall, adding extra functions etc).
In response to “I would really like to know how you justify the price increases”
Genesis (4.6 x 9.5ft), vs GXL (9.5 x 19.3ft), vs GMAX (9.5 x 58.8ft), cost per sqft.
Genesis (44sqft) @ $59USD/sqft, vs GXL (183sqft) @ $21.83USD/sqft vs GMAX (559sqft) @ (non-discounted rate) $12.51USD/sqft.
Price justified: it’s cheaper per sqft (by a lot!)
There’s a reason we bulk buy toilet paper, and tomato sauce (ketchup) and flour and sugar; It’s cheaper.
Same as FarmBot, the GMAX is ‘bulk-buying a FarmBot’
In response to: “Isn’t it just a little more track, hoses and cable?”
Yes, Yes and Yes.
Plus the cost of time to develop. And the cost of ‘Proof of concept’. And space required to develop (and we are al aware real estate is the most expensive commodity in a first world economy!). The track. The hoses. The cable.
So simply yes… it’s just little more track, hoses and cable. And ALOT more R&D and labour and space and time and effort, emails, script, farmduino libraries, parts inventory, 3D printed parts…
In response to: “$3000 increase on MSRP for the Genisis is a lot.”
Agreed. The MSRP for the GMAX is a lot. Bare in mind though, You get free shipping in the lower 48. I have to pay an extra 10% tax on top of it MSRP, and I have to pay for freight to Australia 
Then I have to pay custom fees 
. It is a lot 
. It’s freaking heaps of money 
. So much money. I’m actually shaking my head at how much money it is.
But the GMAX is 79% cheaper per sqft than the Genesis.
So do you want value for money or a cheap MSRP?
In closing if you have to justify the price to you and you have the space available, it is clear that the GMAX (or arguably the EMAX) is far more cost effective than the Genesis or GXL.
For ME to justify the price to ME… There is no justification, I have cancelled my MotoGP subscription, I am saving and I am eating MiGoreng Noodles until I have the money to buy a GMAX, I’m going without evening meals. This is extreme, but even with my level 100 saving techniques I’ll probably go into debt to buy the GMAX. I’d rather pay interest to a bank than profit to Woolworths/Coles (Walmart/Albertsons/Kroger) and get food I’ve grown in soil I own 
It makes so much sense
Good luck man :–)
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Yeah lots of RnD and more food produced. Go MiGoreng Noodles! Farmbot is basically an RnD company (this stuff hasn’t been done before) if you were to buy this tech in industry it would be a lot more expensive.
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@ChrisD there aren’t going to be many functional differences between XL and MAX versions of the kits. However, that doesn’t mean the prices don’t have a justifiable price jump:
In the case of both, they will have longer tubing, longer X-axis cable carriers, a longer power cable, and longer belts. Of those items, the belts and cable carriers add a non-trivial amount of extra cost, but the other items aren’t too pricey.
For Genesis MAX, there will also be additional track extrusions (16 more), dowel pins, track joining plates, horizontal cable carrier supports (a lot more), and a handful more screws and tee nuts. 16 more extrusions, a bunch more plates, and all the extra cable carrier supports/cable carrier add significant cost, especially when counting the shipping involved for so much added weight (which we bake into the price for domestic orders now).
Add onto all that a margin for us to recoup sunk R&D cost, update the CAD models and docs, developing software to better support such large devices, continue developing FarmBot going forward, paying for the web app service these devices and customers will utilize, and you arrive at the prices we chose.
I think the more important metric to look at when comparing sizes is the value one gets out of going bigger, rather than the overall price. As @Kreecha pointed out and as I mentioned in the video, the amount of money spent on a MAX device gets you a lot more area per dollar than any of our other kits. Here’s a screenshot from upcoming hardware docs showing the economies of scale of Express MAX:
For reference, the original Genesis kits sold for ~$3000 as well, but only covered 1.5m x 3m (4.5 square meters). So that’s an almost 10x improvement from just over 3 years ago!
Also, for the record, Genesis MAX is only $1500 more than Genesis XL right now (40% more expensive for 3x the area).
Hope that helps shed some light on the pricing situation. When the new docs come out showing the full Bill of Materials, I think that will also nicely show the value. Stay tuned!
I’m just spitballing here, but how about this?
- Cut the mains power and switch to solar
- Use a water reservoir that is filled at the tool home. FarmBot goes home to fill up on water as needed.
- Replace the x-axis rail and GT2 timing belt, with a U-channel track with rubber wheels.
- Incorporate a distance sensor and a flag at the tool home for accurate calibration.
The limiting factor would be the weight of water versus the time of flight. So filling up to get long distance might take some time to water a long stretch of garden.
I do think the practical limit for the farmbot is about 18 meters or so. Beyond that it probably makes more sense to add a second Farmbot. If you get larger than 18 meters, then you run into a duty cycle issue. The bot just can’t cover more ground all by itself. I think it also becomes very hard to drag all the utilities beyond ±9 meters. Just thinking out loud here. I have a tiny Farmbot Genesis 1.2+. My problem is that sometimes plants do too well in the Farmbot and exceed the planned growth area fouling the tracks. And I am too much of a humanitarian to cut them back.
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