Improving Automated Plant Seeding Through Design and Development of Automated Seeder and Route Optimization

The focus of this study was to improve the planting operation through the automation of planting seeds and adding flexibility in the use of the machine for a variety of plants. In this project, an open-sourced robotic seeder (The FarmBot Genesis) was utilized, modified, and improved to enhance the original function of planting individual seeds in their designated location without a defined travel path. The repetitive function of transferring individual seeds in conjunction with the undefined travel path made the FarmBot inefficient. The improvement enabled the system to load and carry several seeds simultaneously and plant individual seeds in the designated locations. The system, by utilizing the nearest neighbor algorithm, optimizes the sequence that the FarmBot travels in a path to ensure that it visits all predetermined locations in the least amount of distance and time. The applied modification saves a significant amount of planting time/energy/cost and gives the flexibility to use the system for a variety of plants with different seed shapes and sizes. The mechanism can be expanded to operate all functions of farming including watering, sampling, monitoring, and harvesting. The system is expandable for any scale from lab prototype to full-scale industrial farming.