vue - Internet of food: Arduino-based, urban aquaponics in Oakland
The land in West Oakland where Eric Maundu is trying to farm is covered with freeways, roads, light rail and parking lots so there's not much arable land and the soil is contaminated. So Maundu doesn't use soil. Instead he's growing plants using fish and circulating water. It's called aquaponics- a gardening system that combines hydroponics (water-based planting) and aquaculture (fish farming). It's been hailed as the future of farming: it uses less water (up to 90% less than traditional gardening), doesn't attract soil-based bugs and produces two types of produce (both plants and fish). Aquaponics has become popular in recent years among urban gardeners and DIY tinkerers, but Maundu- who is trained in industrial robotics- has taken the agricultural craft one step further and made his gardens smart. Using sensors (to detect water level, pH and temperature), microprocessors (mostly the open-source Arduino microcontroller), relay cards, clouds and social media networks (Twitter and Facebook), Maundu has programmed his gardens to tweet when there's a problem (e.g. not enough water) or when there's news (e.g. an over-abundance of food to share). Maundu himself ran from agriculture in his native Kenya- where he saw it as a struggle for land, water and resources. This changed when he realized he could farm without soil and with little water via aquaponics and that he could apply his robotics background to farming. Today he runs Kijani Grows ("Kijani" is Swahili for green), a small startup that designs and sells custom aquaponics systems for growing food and attempts to explore new frontiers of computer-controlled gardening. Maundu believes that by putting gardens online, especially in places like West Oakland (where his solar-powered gardens are totally off the grid), it's the only way to make sure that farming remains viable to the next generation of urban youth. More info on original story: http://faircompanies.com/videos/view/internet-food-arduino-based-urban-aquaponics-in-oakland/
Commentaires
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wow man thats not little 8:32 thats one big ass bread board :-)
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Well done Kirsten - great to watch this end to end!
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imagine what you could get if people like this got even a fraction of the defense budget, war creates progress my ass, your gov sucks yankees
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Thanks this is so inspiring. As a new tech generation i find my self dumber
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Inspirational.
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full time job and hundreds of KW*h of energy to grow 10 lb. of food worth $20 at a local garden market place
what a spirit !!! -
Nice video Eric!
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This is so cool
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Salute bro. The swahili name inspires me.
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Very cool!
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that guy is an example of someone who brings his innovative ideas to fruition
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He is eating healthy.
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this is the first video that opened me up to this amazing idea. was good to meet you at makerfaire!
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You go brother!Inspiring us in South Africa
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you are awesome!!
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This guy is the future
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Pongezi Maundu, way to go. Impressive work especially the tech linkages.
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Jesus... This is REALLY someting! I was wondering... I read that it takes about 0.07 acres to sustain a human being throughout the year. If your statement that with such systems you need 10 times less space is accurate, then that means that it would be possible to survive on a space as small as 15 by 15 feet! Are you sure that that is accurate?
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niiiice setup, but the roots look a bit weak, you should use Roots Excelurator is a House And Garden Nutrient
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good effort dude...........well done to you!!
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