Design and Simulations of a Self-Assembling Autonomous Vertical Farm for Urban Farming

Bhanu Watawana () and Mats Isaksson
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Bhanu Watawana: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, John St, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia
Mats Isaksson: Department of Mechanical Engineering and Product Design Engineering, Swinburne University of Technology, John St, Hawthorn, VIC 3122, Australia

Agriculture, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-14

Abstract: Vertical farming has been proposed as a solution for diminishing arable land as it significantly reduces the footprint of farming. Most contemporary solutions use a low level of automation; however, automation of vertical farming is currently attracting attention from researchers. This paper introduces a conceptual design for an autonomous vertical farm where the main novelty is the self-assembling feature. The proposed system is designed to be installed and used by a non-specialist. The system is designed for cost minimisation, using one set of resources moved by a robot arm to service the plants. These resources include sensors, a depth camera, and the required farming tools. The farm has the capacity of self-powering, greenhouse conversion, data sharing and learning, and several other features. The paper provides the conceptual design in addition to an analysis of the dimensioning of the robot arm, time studies for operation, and an analysis of the self-powering ability.

Keywords: backyard farming; self-assembly; vertical expansion; factory in a box; automated farming; vertical farming; sustainable farm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q1 Q10 Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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