Electrify a Mobile Vegetable Harvesting Platform
Problem statement
Imagine you have a football field-sized farm, and you have to harvest and carry all the crops by hand. Not only could that cause physical harm, it’s also extremely inefficient. This is a problem many small farm owners in America face because farming equipment manufacturers focus on machines for large scale production. These machines are crop specific and intended for large volumes while small farm owners have a wide variety of crops with very low volume. Cost is also a huge barrier for small farmers because large farming equipment is extremely expensive. The smallest combine John Deere makes, the John Deere 9650, is selling for $50,000 for a 20 year old, used model. Solutions to this problem exist in other countries and our project partner, Small Farm Works, recently imported an adjustable width cart from Japan that has excellent potential. However, due to import restrictions, the unit was imported without its gasoline engine. We intend to give our client an electrified harvesting cart that provides the efficiency of a large scale farm at a price that will allow small farming to be both profitable and enjoyable. Ultimately, we want to help our client achieve his goal by helping his business provide small-scale, sustainable farming practices and tools.
Team members
Nicole Wahlgren – leader
Thomas Kunnasery – communicator
Zachary Johnson – accountant
Stefan Wild – admin