Sunbots

The Sunbots project is an exercise in speculative design, centered on crafting robotic appendages for houseplants. The robotic base, recharged by solar panels, gives the plant autonomous motion to search for sunlight. As an open-source project, a core objective is to create a simple yet robust design that is both accessible for design changes, and easily replicable. Wireless communication was added to enable the robotic base to report light levels in order to facilitate group communication and collaboration. This network may facilitate future explorations of robot behavior that more closely emulate chemical communication among organisms in dense forests.