A Chinese roboticist has has created a mobile and surprisingly-endearing alliance between plant and machine.
Sun Tianqi’s six-legged robot, made with his company Vincross, uses its six nimble legs to transport a plant – helping the succulent to stay in optimal levels of sunlight.
The robot is an art piece based upon the company’s own six-legged HEXA robot.
With the same six-legged base, Tianqi added a dual-layer flowerpot to replace the robot’s usual shell.
“Plants are passive,” Tianqi wrote in a blog post on the project. “No matter if they are being cut, bitten, burned or pulled from the earth, or when they lack sunshine, water, or are too hot or cold, they will hold still and take whatever is happening to them.
“With a robotic rover base, plants can experience mobility and interaction.”
“If human beings always try to break the settings with technology, how about plants?” said Tianqi. “I do not know the answer, but I would love to try to share some of this human tendency and technology with plants.
“I do hope that this project can bring some inspiration to the relationship between technology and natural default settings.”
For more information on the purchasable robot HEXA, that formed the base of the plant-machine hybrid, check out the video below.
