I tend to look at robots the same way that ancient monks viewed the martial arts–I look to nature for inspiration. However, when I considered the possiblity of creating an independent robot for gardening and farming, the idea of insect like robots flew out the window. The problem is that independent robots wheeling around in a farm is a bit complicated and only creates more work for the owner to maintain. At the time I was considering building a windmill. Instantly, I thought of a tree in the center of the field. I also envisioned the circular motion made by a windmill, similar to the circular motion associated with Kung-fu.

Then I came up with the idea of changing the landscape into a circular form, and planting a tower like robot in the center of it. As the sun rises, a solar panel at the crest of the robot picks up the rays of the sun. In a short while, the robot goes to work.

The sensor on the water/ shower head detects moisture levels in the air. A second robotic arm has extensors mounted on it. The extensors can be made to drop seed or trim the plant. One difficulty in this idea is making the extensors delicate enough to harvest fruits and vegetables.

Surrounding the garden or farm is a line of barcode. This is just an idea I was toying with to find a way of programming the extensor arm in recognizing what kind of plant life is in which area on the ground (or possibly a starting and stopping point for the water head).

Water is fed into the robot through a water tank. The water tank stores water running from underground.

See some of my links to robotics news, topics, and resources on my blog.