CAROLINE CARBO

PlanterBot was our final project for Product Design in Spring 2018.  The assignment was to create anything that could move in 2.5 axes and fit into a backpack.  Our group had many different ideas but settled on the urban gardening robot because it seemed like a very cool practical application that has not been fully solved in the market.  The first axis of movement was the timing belt, which works by attaching a stepper motor to a timing pulley.  The second axis of movement was the wheels, which move forward.  They are attached separately by two stepper motors and have the capability of eventually turning the robot around to plant more than two rows of seeds.  The half axis of movement was the cam and follower that lowered and lifted the hopper to poke a hole in the ground and release seeds.  This axis was the part that I mainly designed and is my largest contribution to the project.  An Arduino Uno was used to sequence and power the motors.  All of the red-colored parts on the PlanterBot were 3D printed and the parts were designed for this type of manufacturing process.  While the PlanterBot is a functioning prototype, it can be taken to the next level by attaching the electrical components to the board in the rear and finding a way to run the Arduino with a battery instead of an outlet.   It has not yet been tested in a garden so we do not know how the mechanisms will handle a real-world scenario.