This adorable little robot is designed to make sure its photosynthesising passenger is well taken care of. It moves towards brighter light if it needs, or hides in the shade to keep cool. When in the light, it rotates to make sure the plant gets plenty of illumination. It even likes to play with humans.
Oh, and apparently, it gets antsy when it’s thirsty.
The robot is actually an art project called “Sharing Human Technology with Plants” by a roboticist named Sun Tianqi. It’s made from a modified version of a Vincross HEXA robot, and in his own words, its purpose is “to explore the relationship between living beings and robots.”
I don’t care if it’s silly. I want one.
It’s very cute. I doubt the plant will survive long.
Are plants okay being shaken this way?
Plants orient themselves to the light over slow time. Turning them around at that speed – ???
Still a fun art project. Probably for the Dark Side.
Plants are just fine being gently shaken, aside from extremely fragile ones.
They’re also generally okay with being moved frequently. They aim themselves towards the light for optimal light collection, but having a robot put them in the optimal spot is also OK.
The plant above could use a bit more sunlight by the look of it, however. It’s a succulent that needs a lot of light and would really be better off perched in a very bright windowsill or outside in the bright sun. A plant that needs slightly less light, say a fern, would do great. Plus, it’s adorable.
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