F.A.R.M.H.A.N.D

The F.A.R.M.H.A.N.D (Fully Automated Robotic Machine for Harvesting, Agriculture aNd Digging) was first introduced at the start of 2052 during the height of the farmland exodus crisis. Its development was a multi-national effort in a bid to maintain the food supply after the devastating Pandemic of 2043 to 2046.

These autonomous robots were some of the first to work on massive corporate and government farmlands reclaimed from owners that had abandoned them or passed away from the Pandemic that swept through the rural communities globally. By 2071 they were at their height of usage with over 400,000 in use globally, supported with drones and smaller robotic devices as well as automated collection and distribution.

In late 2063 massive development of autonomous nanites and micro-robotics escalated in response to the exodus of people as the bases in orbit, on Mars, the Asteroid Belt and the Moon became more viable. Massive land areas were reconverted to farming and the Earth became a central hub for food production until 2091 when food synthesis became more mainstream in response to the development of the Faster than Light drives.

Many of these robots still remain in abandoned fields and continue to have power due to their nuclear decay power source, efforts to collect and recycle them have been done by several governments in their respective countries but it is estimated about 50,000 still sit idle in fields globally and remain an environmental hazard.

(Pictured is an early model F.A.R.M.H.A.N.D, series E91812, setup for crop spraying and testing)