Currently Available Hydroponic Racks (and renderings of bigger MARSfarms!)

Here is a summary of what we learned from the research @ben did this summer. Our goal was to create five configurations of racks and then use those renderings to test how important a feature was. This is somewhat subjective, but things like ‘nobody likes the square one’ (#2) become obvious and it provides an opportunity for someone to describe how they would use it in practice.

Please reply with your feedback or if you think we’re missing something!

Option 1 is the base option. There wasn’t too much specific feedback on it.

Option 2 is the square option. The actual form factor wasn’t really wanted, largely due to not being to easily put it against a wall. However, the casters on the reservoirs were very wanted.

Option 3 is the individual climate option. Some people really wanted it, but a lot of people weren’t interested. The science-focused ag teachers or straight up science teachers were generally the people interested. We’re likely to prioritize other options at first and offer this if it is wanted.

Option 4 is the lettuce factory. It had a moderate interest level.

Option 5 is the short version that also has the entire rack on casters. It achieves this by making the distance between racks shorter and by moving the fill reservoir to external. Both the kid-height and the rack being on casters were strongly wanted.

Main Takeaways:

  • Everybody loves casters
  • Nobody wants the square option
  • Climate control could be useful in some cases, but more science than ag
  • Shorter is better

Next Feedback to Get:

  • How much do they care about air circulation?
  • How much do they care about temperature control?
  • Do they want a large, pH-controlled reservoir?