Category: Featured

The “Seed” part of a Seed Factory is a starter kit of automated machines.  They can help make useful products, and in addition make some of the parts to copy themselves, add new types of machines to the factory, or make larger versions of what they already have.  A starter kit will not be able to make every kind of part or use every kind of material.  Whatever it cannot make itself will have to be supplied from outside.  As the factory grows over time, it can make more items internally, and need fewer items from outside sources.  So where does the starter kit come from, and what is in it?

The design of the starter kit depends on the mature factory you want it to grow into.  That includes where it will be built, who will operate it, and what products it will make.  We have identified four kinds of mature end-points so far: Community Factory, Industrial Factory, Distributed Production Network, and Remote Locations.  For each of these, we will identify smaller growth steps between starter and mature, and then what new machines need to be built in each step.  If you already have lots of automated factories, you can feed them the designs for a starter kit, and have it produced and delivered ready to start work.  However, that does not work for the first Seed Factory.  To build that first one, you need to use conventional tools.  So our project will be setting up a location with conventional workshop tools, where we can build and test prototype versions of the machines, and them make the designs available for other people to use.

Our designs are not finished yet, so we cannot say for certain what will be in a given starter kit.  We do have a preliminary list of items that are strong candidates, though.  That list is based on satisfying the basic factory functions, and flexibility to do multiple tasks.  We will describe these machines in more detail in later articles, but the current list and what they are used for is as follows:

(1) Solar Furnace – A concentrating solar furnace can supply heat to generate electricity, and for a wide variety of industrial processes that need heating.  In general you will have several such furnaces for different jobs, but the targets at the focus are designed to be swapped out to change jobs as needed.

(2) Modular Robotics – This consists of sets of mobile vehicles, robot arms, and detachable tools and implements.  In combination they can do the same variety of jobs that farm tractors, construction machines, and factory robots can do.  The robot arms can also be installed in stationary locations or moving gantries within a factory.

(3) Process Plant – Many products need physical or chemical changes made to the raw materials.  This “machine” consists of simple modular units that perform one task each (grinding, mixing, drying, etc.), and flexible connectors between them to move items from one step to the next.  As a whole, the process plant can be programmed with a “recipe” for a given product.

(4) Bridge Mill – This is one of three basic parts-making machines.  A bridge mill moves a horizontal beam (the bridge) vertically, while a sliding table moves forward and back underneath, and a tool head moves sideways across the bridge.  This gives three axes of motion (XYZ).  In our design, the tool head can be swapped out to do different things (milling, 3D printing, etc.)

(5) Lathe – This machine rotates the workpiece with a powered spindle, and then a tool is applied to it.  Lathes are most useful making round parts.  Our version has a 4-rail bed.  The main spindle and workpiece supports are over one pair of rails, while different types of tool holders slide along the second parallel pair.

(6) Hydraulic Press – This consists of lower and upper slotted plates for mounting a variety of attachments, sturdy posts at the corners for the upper plate to slide along and keep it parallel to the bottom plate, and one or more powerful hydraulic cylinders to drive the upper plate down.  The attachments allow molding, shearing, rolling, bending, and shaping.

(7) Electrical Shop – Many products need electrical and electronic parts.  This “machine” consists of devices to produce circuit boards and electrical chassis, and then robotic installation of a variety of parts from inventory.

(8) Modular Building – The building provides protection from weather for most of the other machines, plus storage and assembly areas.  It also includes gantries and cranes for moving heavy items, and utilities connections.  Since the factory will be expanding, the building is modular so it can be easily added to.

The Seed Factory Project is a new kind of production system with an ultimate goal of ending material scarcity and bringing about a better quality of life for everyone.  The “Seed” is a starter kit of about 8 different machines that grows into a mature factory, in the same way a plant seed grows into a mature plant.  Living plants use local energy (sunlight) and local raw materials (soil, water, and air) to expand themselves.  Similarly, a Seed Factory will use local energy (solar, wind, and other renewable sources) and local raw materials to expand itself and make everyday things. 

Each part of the factory contributes to several goals:

1. Producing a variety of products people need and want
2. Replicating existing parts
3. Producing new parts to diversify or enlarge output

The design concept follows modern sustainability principles.  Using local resources to produce the products eliminates multiple stages of shipping items over long distances.  Because of this we are able to eliminate much of the energy and excess packaging in conventional production and final delivery. Using a large amount of renewable energy (solar, wind, and biofuel) drastically reduces the footprint of producing and distributing these items.

Low cost and efficiency are not only about the products, they are also about expanding and maintaining the factory itself. Many of the parts that the mature factory uses will be made by the seed kit, and the growing assortment of expansion equipment added to it over time.  Since the factory can copy its own parts, it can make spares and replacements as needed.  These feature make the factory inexpensive to build, repair or even copy itself (for the most part).

The final piece of the puzzle is computer-driven automation.  Since multiple stages of production are gathered in one area, you can not only automate each process, but also handing off items from one step to the next.  Automation also increases productivity (more stuff for less human work).  By leveraging all these advantages, Seed Factories should be much cheaper and more efficient than conventional factories.  If a mature factory is able to produce more starter kits, the number of factories can grow to whatever level required to satisfy people’s material needs. This is especially helpful in parts of the world that lack basic needs. Note that at current levels of technology, we don’t expect to reach 100% automation or be able to make 100% of parts internally. We expect we can reach high percentages of these, but still need some human labor, complex parts and materials.

We began the Seed Factory Project because we think automation and robotics is at a level where such factories are now possible. The benefits to humanity are so large as to make the effort worthwhile. Our goal is to develop the technology, build working prototypes, and demonstrate that self-expanding factories in fact work.