Planting Attachment

Step

Description of the planting machine

Costs

1

The basis of the planting machine is the conveyer band described above – fix two wooden slats on the left and right side of the band – later we fix the planting parts on them

0 €

2

You need an NXT robot from Lego, a computer, 2-3 ultrasonic sensors, 3 motors and some Lego bricks to build some smaller tanks – you can buy a used NXT set including everything for less than 100 € on the internet – you get a DVD together with the Lego set >> it explains how to program the NXT and how to use sensors – it’s rather easy! You also find instructions/videos on the internet how to do it.

80-150 €

3

Build 3 Lego tanks with the bricks. At the bottom you need a hole (about 4x4 cm) which you can open and close with the motor – we used  LEGO gear wheels(part of the set) to close and open the tanks – place everything above the band

0-25 €

4

Fix some big plastic bottles above your Lego tanks and slice them at the bottoms – later you fill them with potting compost and seeds

0 €

5

Write a program on your computer (we will put an example on our website) so that the motors react when the ultrasonic sensors recognize pots in front of themselves – now the compost/seeds should fall into the pots - work on the timing (e.g.: change the position of the sensor, the speed of the conveyer band or improve the program!)

0 €

6

At the end you can fix a used submerged pump which people sometimes use for ponds to water the pots – you can also control it with the NXT and use a sensor for the timing

5-10 €

7

Work on the perfect timing - the faster you can run it the more you can produce!

0 €

8

You could build a sliding board at the end to sort the pots

0-10 €