PotPet

2009 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2009

This paper describes the architecture and implementation of a distributed autonomous gardening system. The garden is a mesh network of robots and plants. The gardening robots are mobile manipulators with an eye-in-hand camera. They are capable of locating plants in the garden, watering them, and locating and grasping fruit. The plants are potted cherry tomatoes enhanced with sensors and computation to monitor their well-being (e.g. soil humidity, state of fruits) and with networking to communicate servicing requests to the robots. Task allocation, sensing and manipulation are distributed in the system and de-centrally coordinated. We describe the architecture of this system and present experimental results for navigation, object recognition and manipulation.

2016

Robot Gardens are an augmented reality concept allowing a human user to design a biohybrid, plant-robot system. Plants growing from deliberately placed seeds are directed by robotic units that the user can position, configure and activate. For example, the robotic units may serve as physical shields or frames but they may also guide the plants' growth through emission of light. The biohybrid system evolves over time to redefine architectural spaces. This gives rise to the particular challenge of designing a biohybrid system before its actual implementation and potentially long before its developmental processes unfold. Here, an augmented reality interface featuring according simulation models of plants and robotic units allows one to explore the design space a priori. In this work, we present our first functional augmented reality prototype to design biohybrid systems. We provide details about its workings and elaborate on first empirical studies on its usability.

2015 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA), 2015

Computational thinking is an important part of a modern education, and robotics provides a powerful tool for teaching programming logic in an interactive and engaging way. The robot garden presented in this paper is a distributed multirobot system capable of running autonomously or under user control from a simple graphical interface. Over 100 origami flowers are actuated with LEDs and printed pouch motors, and are deployed in a modular array around additional swimming and crawling folded robots. The garden integrates state-of-theart rapid design and fabrication technologies with distributed systems software techniques to create a scalable swarm in which robots can be controlled individually or as a group. The garden can be used to teach basic algorithmic concepts through its distributed algorithm demonstration capabilities and can teach programming concepts through its educationoriented user interface.

ArXiv, 2017

Key to our project flora robotica is the idea of creating a bio-hybrid system of tightly coupled natural plants and distributed robots to grow architectural artifacts and spaces. Our motivation with this ground research project is to lay a principled foundation towards the design and implementation of living architectural systems that provide functionalities beyond those of orthodox building practice, such as self-repair, material accumulation and self-organization. Plants and robots work together to create a living organism that is inhabited by human beings. User-defined design objectives help to steer the directional growth of the plants, but also the system's interactions with its inhabitants determine locations where growth is prohibited or desired (e.g., partitions, windows, occupiable space). We report our plant species selection process and aspects of living architecture. A leitmotif of our project is the rich concept of braiding: braids are produced by robots from contin...

International Journal of Advances Engineering and Civil Research

For thousands of decades, agriculture has been one of the most important sectors in the development of Egyptian civilization. And with the recent advancement of technology and the need for increasing sustainability autonomous robots will play a huge role in the future of agriculture-especially in weeding applications. Weeding is necessary because weeds compete with the main crop plant for different factors such as water, sunlight, nutrients, and space, hence affecting plant growth. Traditional weeding methods usually use chemicals in an excessive way that causes lots of damage to the crops and has a negative impact on both, the environment, and human health. In addition, it requires a lot of manpower and unnecessary costs. Modern technology must be applied to solve such issues while keeping farmers competitive. A design of a robot is proposed to reduce herbicides input in the field to its minimum while in parallel trying to provide cost, time, and fuel economies. Our project-in the form of an autonomous robot that aims to get rid of weeds with the use of a micro-dose of herbicides-robot represents a major innovation in weeding methods. It is 100% autonomous. It can detect the weed with high precision in order to spray the herbicide on them directly without affecting the crops. Furthermore, it uses less herbicide to reduce the costs and the environmental impact. Plus, the robot will be powered by a renewable source of energy-solar energy-to help reduce carbon emissions and improve sustainability.

As a service robot, we proposed a flower robot which has several functions, such as moving mechanism, sensing ability, and home appliance functions. Among the various functions, the moving function of the flower robot is very important function. The moving flower robot can be divided as a flower, a stem and leaves. We tried to mimic the blooming of flower, the swaying of the stem and the stirring of the leaves in the wind. For the actuation of the flower robot, we used micromotors and tendon mechanisms. From the motions of the flower, the stem and the leaves, the desired target positions are decided. In addition, based on inverse kinematics and trajectory generations, the overall control system for the moving flower robot is constructed. Through the various experiments, the performances of each part of the flower robot are verified and the characteristics are discussed.

IRJET, 2023

Precision farming is a burgeoning domain that aims to enhance crop production through data-informed choices. In this study, we introduce a versatile Agrobot system tailored for precision farming, which features a mobile robotic platform outfitted with an array of sensors, actuators, and instruments that enable it to execute numerous tasks with exceptional accuracy and efficacy. The Agrobot system is devised to function in various agricultural settings, including fields, greenhouses, and orchards, and its modularity permits customization for distinct crops and farming techniques. This article introduces the creation and application of RaithaMitra, a cutting-edge Agrobot steered by an Arduino Uno microcontroller. The Agrobot, outfitted with a Bluetooth module, can be managed through an accessible Android app, crafted using the Arduino coding language, a derivative of C. RaithaMitra uses four distinct DC motors for its movement, promising superior manoeuvrability. The robot incorporates a weed cutter blade driven by a DC motor, offering effective control of weeds and grass. Moreover, RaithaMitra possesses a pesticide sprayer for safeguarding crops and a servo motor- controlled seed container for accurate seed placement. An exceptional attribute of this Agrobot is its soil moisture sensor that measures the water levels in the soil. When these levels dip below a set limit, the sensor triggers a relay, transmitting a message to an RF receiver that initiates a pump for targeted watering. This multifunctional approach bolsters agricultural productivity, potentially revolutionising conventional farming methodologies.

IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and System, 2002

Production of nursery crops in the US is accomplished in container-and field-growing conditions, with propagation and seedling-rearing carried out in greenhouses; 11% of the US national farm-product is represented by these crops. Container-grown crops represent 60% of the US market and represent a highly labor-intensive and thus costly segment of ornamental crop production. The USDA, NASA and the ANLA have collaborated to develop an automated in-field containerhandling system for reducing dependence on foreign labor while also increasing productivity. A prototype system was developed at CMU, capable of automatically lifting and conveying plants from the ground (in a variety of regular patterns) onto trailers, and vice-versa. The system is capable of handling a vast array of container-designs from different manufacturers, and spans the size-range from #1 to #3 (approximate equivalence to US gallons). The system is designed to handle 35,000 containers per 8-hour day with one to two operators. Field-trials currently underway has shown the system to reliably handle 29,000 #1 containers per 8hour day with less than a 3% failure-rate. Testing in various growth-zones and surfaces is underway, with commercialization efforts in Europe/US.

2014

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2019

Houseplants on wheels roamed the hallways of Rutgers University in New Jersey, beginning in 2012, sunning themselves in bright windows and asking students for water when their soil was dry. No remote control directed them. No unseen hand guided their movement. The mobile plants, called FloraBorgs, drove themselves. Indoor plants are popular. By some accounts, millennials have become houseplant addicts (1); a quick search of Instagram, Pinterest, or Etsy turns up hundreds of thousands of images of trendy fiddle-leaf figs and slick-leaved monsteras. Hence, placing a fern on a roving base may seem part and parcel of a passing fad. But beneath the cute veneer, a mobile, self-sufficient plant raises profound questions about man's relationship with other species, the role of technology, and the line between organic and machine. A handful of similar projects combining houseplants and robots have cropped up in the past 10 years or so. Most are artistically and philosophically motivated. All explore the intersection of humanity, nature, and technology. RoboGardens Sculptor Elizabeth Demaray created the FloraBorg project to empower those houseplants to pursue their own needs. Each sits on a three-wheeled base that seeks light and water autonomously. It's a comment on mankind's often neglectful relationship with other species, she says. Demaray collaborated with engineer Qingze Zou, computer scientist Ahmed Elgammal