It also knows when the plant has gotten too much sun, which will cause it to seek out the shade.
When it is time for the plant to be watered, the HEXA will use its legs to stomp up and down, drawing attention to the plant to the let the owner know that it is thirsty.
Vincross founder Sun Tianqi explained in a blog post that came up with the idea for the robot when he went to a sunflower exhibition and saw a dead flower.
“The original idea of the project came from a dead sunflower. In 2014, I went to see a sunflower exhibition, and found myself focused on a dead sunflower near a ground of blooms. The dead flower sat in a place that was always in a shadow. I had no idea how it ended up there or why it died – whether it was because of the lack of sunshine or water – but it was just there, and it was dead. I thought, if it could move a little bit, take a 30-feet walk out of the shadow to where the other sunflowers were, it would have lived healthily. But it didn’t,” he explained.
The device even rotates so the entire plant is evenly exposed to the sunlight.
“Plants are passive. Eternally, inexplicably passive. 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. They have the fewest degrees of freedom among all the creatures in nature. This is simply the default setting that nature gives to plants,” he added.
The HEXA is very nimble too, and can even dance around!
Unfortunately, this is not a product for the average consumer, as it has a price tag of $949. Still, this is a brilliant innovation which will hopefully inspire other inventors to create cheaper alternatives that serve the same function.
However, some people are old-fashioned and find enjoyment in maintaining gardens and house plants. A device like would only be attractive to people who want to keep house plants, but wouldn’t have time to maintain them, or perhaps people who would want to have a cool robot in their house.