FarmBot is humanity's open-source automated precision farming machine. Picture FarmBots as giant 3D printers, but instead of extruding plastic, its tools are seed injectors, watering nozzles, sensors, and more. FarmBot technology exhibits the following key features:
Our Vision is to create an open and accessible technology aiding everyone to grow food and to grow food for everyone. Our Mission is to grow a community that produces free and open-source hardware plans, software, data, and documentation enabling everyone to build and operate a farming machine.
The FarmBot whitepaper served as the catalyst for all of Rory's ideas, providing the medium with which to share the FarmBot concept, vision, and initial technical design with the world. It was written during the Summer of 2013 and published on September 19, 2013. Within days, it had captured the attention of software developers, open-source enthusiasts, ag specialists, mechanical engineers, and more. It was over the next week that the project became very real: a core team formed, people began donating money and materials, and the press coverage exploded. You can read the FarmBot Whitepaper online or download it in PDF format for offline use.