Grouu
@grouuopenag
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@grouuopenag
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By Andre Rocha
GROUU is a Research through Design process aimed at understanding the role of Tacit Knowledge (TK) in an Open Agriculture context.
To do so, different iterations of the same system - GROUU - will be introduced to different real agricultural contexts and communities.
GROUU is also an Open Source modular system formed by a set of sensors and actuators. GROUU automates some agricultural tasks, like fertilizing and watering, to optimize it by recognizing success patterns from Sensor and User-Generated Data. Optimization is directly related to the amount and diversity of data and users.
This Research project explores the hypothetical formation of Digitized TK through a diverse implementation of Open Agriculture, and by assuming that some of the sensor data recorded throughout the process is formed by practical actions of the Farmer over its surrounding environment (the farm) and therefore by TK.
The project is divided into three stages:
The first focuses on GROUU’s adoption by diverse Users and tries to understand it by testing different dissemination strategies.
Then, it will address the engagement of users in the design process. Open Source is fundamental, but what about the engagement of the actual Users: Apart from Makers and motivated designers, how can Farmers and Farming communities engage in developing Open Agriculture?
The last step is about the possible implications and applications of TK in Open Agriculture.:On a technical level, to digitize and integrate it into Open Agriculture.
On a design level, to generate new Open Data streams between different agricultural contexts and communities:
Can Agricultural TK become Open Agricultural Knowledge? So, therefore, a Common?
In sum, Imagine that old Lady you know, getting out of her house in the morning, and precisely knowing what she would have to do throughout the day: When to water, feed, crop, the best times, if she should or should not do something. But she can't explain to you why she's doing it the way she is. At the same time, she is thriving! She grows the best tomatoes, the juiciest ones while she intuitively(?) navigates weather conditions, soil quality, plagues. For her, as a user, GROUU nor any fancy technology wouldn't do much. Instead, the question is what she can do for it. How can a network of sensors learn from her actions over her Garden? Would my similar conditions fully automated balcony tomato planters benefit from her TK?
By envisioning a contribution to global knowledge and best agricultural practices ecosystem – Open Agriculture – GROUU design process anticipates inclusion and co-design through this Research Through Design process. The same would not be possible if not a part of a broader Open Knowledge ecosystem where designs, hardware, and software are free and documented. These open and freely available resources are then fed and improved by initiatives such as GROUU, by its failures and successes, workshops, actions, and releases.
GROUU as passed by some iterations, mostly design and DIY prototyping explorations still looking for an engaging and inclusive formula, a model that will be quickly adopted, documented and disseminated enough to proceed with the proposed research.
The first, in 2014, was a compilation of several sensing and automation strategies for horticulture with Arduino, in a fully automated (on wheels!) Greenhouse.
This costly strategy stood was a crucial learning stage: It enabled us to understand the level of complexity, calibration issues, and diversity of agricultural variables to include, exclude, or isolate for experimental purposes.
More recently, the modularization of design led to different developments and actions.
As we mapped the entire GROUU as a scalable, modular, and expandable system, we started taking the development to particular contexts.
Some of these were enabled by DDMP actions, led by the P2P lab in two different workshops: CultiMake and Tzoumakers.
- The first, at Habibi.Works, a Makerspace dedicated to the local refugee community. Here, the engagement highlight was an introduction to Arduino and GROUU workshop for younger attendees. The ongoing development attracted some curious members of the community, but language barriers and the complexity of the theme acted as big constrains.
- In the second occasion, at Tzoumakers, the configuration of the Workshop allowed better results in terms of engaging local actors and even onboarding them on the project. By forming a small team with local actors, we were able to exchange ideas, co-design, adapt, and plan future work together. In this specific case, a GROUU nursery for seedlings, acted as a comprehensive synthesis of how the system can be formed and evolve. We also got excellent feedback about alternative usages and alternative technologies to use with the same purpose.
Concluding, GROUU is inevitably a Distributed Design process, meaningless if no local actors adopt the system and consequently participate in its development.
All GROUU technologies already exist, and they are just being brought to a different research context that is dependent on its acceptance as part of a knowledge-sharing ecosystem, which is also dependent on trust and proximity.
If none in a particular community builds trust over its usage or helps to make it comprehensible and accepted, the research process is interrupted.
From this point of view, exploring different strategies and implementations is also about pushing Distributed Design forward.
