Augmenting Plant Behavior Through Robotics using Arduino


Posted on Feb 5, 2014

The PhytoBot is a semi-intelligent plant which responds to external stimulus (light intensity and light location) and responds to it as a phototropic plant would. Essentially it is designed as a piece of interactive artwork for operation over a long period of time. The motivation driving this was triggered by the lack of understanding & acceptance


Augmenting Plant Behavior Through Robotics using Arduino
Click here to download the full size of the above Circuit.

of plants as reactive living organisms. Many of us are so used to placing life on merely objects that have visual and audible external responses which can be seen by the naked eye. Plants on the other hand tend to be overlooked as their responses are more drawn out over time and hence we tend to see them as inanimate objects. The PhytoBot has two degrees of freedom and motion, rotational and angular (from the normal). The rotational range of motion is 360 degrees whereas the vertical/angular range is approximately 70 degrees. The second component of the response is the pulsing lights on the face. The lights pulse from on to off in a smooth glowing fashion as if the plant was breathing. The variance in frequency is driven by the amount of light given to the plant. A fast pulse indicates that the plant is healthy, and a slow pulse indicates that the plant is in need of more light. There are two basic mechanical features within the PhytoBot. When the PhytoBot actively seeks light, it is oriented by two servos in the x and y axes. When the light has been located the plant will twitch depending on how far away the light source is. For example a closer point light will produce more twitching than if the Plant was facing the sun.




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