Hi, I’m in the UK where we have smaller gardens.
The 6M by 3 M is just too large to fit and the 3M by 1.5 is too small to produce enough food.
What facilities exist to make custom sizes or pre-set intermittent sizes.
For example, 5 x 2,5 would be perfect for my and very many standard UK gardens.
Afaik you can get the XL and just dial the smaler bed size in the WebApp. I’m not 100% certain if it’s the only one but that’s one place where you have to set it or let the FB find it’s size himself: https://software.farm.bot/docs/axes
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Easily done- I purchased the XL 1.5 and cut the width by 6 inches and the length by 2 feet. I used a band saw to cut the rails and burnished the cuts but I think a hack saw would work also. The software is easy to configure a different size.
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I’ve done the same as @ldgaley. It’s easy enough and shouldn’t put you off. The X-Axis rails are made out of 1.5m segments and don’t even need to be cut if you decide to go for a total length of 4.5m.
Although not mandatory, it’s best if the rails on the Y-Axis are a little bit wider than the bed.
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agree about the y axis- I cut them exactly the width of my bed and I now wish I had made them about 6" longer- the seed pods cannot be reached with the y axis exactly at the bed width
Hello Dervish @Dervish_McDroid
The FarmBot can be adjusted smaller by cutting the aluminum tracks. However the FarmBot can not be adjusted larger than the design dimensions. If you plan to adjust the track size, you will likely need to get a metal cutting band saw to cut the aluminum tracks. You can also likely go to your local machine shop or maker space and get the tracks cut to your exact dimensions. A metal cutting hack saw can work but it may not give you the best result.
If you do cut the tracks, you will need to take care when you install the cables and tubing. You will need to ensure the cables and tubing are managed properly and using the zip ties you will need to ensure that the additional length of cables and tubing are kept out of the way and don’t create additional burden on the FarmBot motors. Zip ties are included in the FarmBot kit.
This is a photo example of a FarmBot Genesis XL that has been fit onto a space that is smaller than the designed area. You can see there was a significant amount of slack in the cable. This is an extreme example but using zip ties, we have kept all the additional cables and tubing out of the way of the Y-Axis tracks and motors and away from any interference with the Z-Axis.
This is a functional FarmBot that is running in Edmonton Alberta.
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Since they are aluminum, I just cut them on my chop saw with a multi-purpose blade. Many blades can cut wood and aluminum.
It was mentioned that the size can not be made larger. What is the reason for this? Has anyone experimented with mechanisms that can transfer the gantry to an additional rows to compound capacity?
@MakeItGrow There are a number of reasons, many of which I can’t remember off the top of my head. Here are just a few that I can remember:
- In the firmware source code, some variables need to be “widened” to prevent things like integer overflows.
- A USB repeater may be required for long USB cable runs.
- Some cables will require signal amplification to compensate for loss on a larger gantry
- The user interface has never had to render so many plants on one screen. It is not known if there will be unacceptable performance issues at MAX scale. We would have spent time fixing these issues if there was enough interest in the product, but unfortunately we had to cancel the launch due to the small number of presales.
It’s been quite a while since we’ve had to discuss this, so this list should not be considered definitive. I’m mostly trying to illustrate the point that it is not as simple as adding more tracks to an XL unit.
Just buy another machine at this stage and put them side by side.
I’m really keen to hear others opinions on this assumption?
Assumption: increasing the gantry length past 3m may cause problems as the only supports are at each end so you may get a dip or a slight bend. Also if the steppers get out of alignment the twisting leverage force could be much greater with a longer gantry.
Regarding the challenges to a wider gantry, perhaps the use of tension wires employing tensegrity could mitigate sagging and twisting.
Or stronger materials