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In Arthur C. Clarkes "3001" the humans had brought back a dinosaur using its DNA sequence, and the dinosaur was used to do the tree-trimming in the space colony, the reason being that it had excellent dexterity and was well suited to do this. The dinosaur had been made docile, and was very happy to be trimming the trees in the tradition of Japanese bonsai plant perfection. Well, Arthur C. Clarke sure had some great concepts in his science fiction works. Indeed, he explained the process in detail and it appeared to be feasible for the future, remember the story was cast into the future just under 1,000 years from now.
Happy dinosaurs as garden attendants, a unique concept no doubt, and well, obviously humans are not at the point yet, but it is conceivable if you give human scientists some 50-75 years in the future, they could probably make it so, and perhaps even in 100-years we might have space colonies, and resurrect past species, giving them another chance at the evolutionary cycle. All well and good, but you know what, I need someone to trim my hedges right now, and so, I have a better idea, and if you have a few moments I'd like to discuss this if I might.
First, our robotics technology is getting rather incredible. We have visual recognition systems, which using artificial intelligence can easily determine the difference between a leaf and a branch, or a sickly branch with a strong healthy one. Our robotic systems are also getting very good at mobility and six or more degrees of movement. It is completely possible they could prune, trim, and cut shrubbery and be just as accurate with every precision cut as the Arthur C. Clarkes' resurrected dinosaurs in his novel, later turned movie.
Next, a robot of this type could park itself in the corner, soak up some Sun, and harvest solar energy until it had the energy needed to do its assigned tasks. We can easily have Carnegie Mellon's Robotic Engineers construct such a device, and it would work fine. You see, it's been over a decade since an MIT graduate came out with a robotic lawn mower, so it's time to take all this current robotic technology used in other sectors such as prosthesis, health care, military equipment, unmanned vehicles, and those Asimov Japanese type robots used mostly for entertainment and tie it all together and get this done.
There is a gentleman, Geoffrey L. Barrows, who has developed an operating system utilizing optical flow sensors, which could easily be deployed for this robotic gardener technology. That along with sonar and sound sensors and infrared sensors the garden robotic could work flawlessly; perhaps even maintain the most beautiful gardens of the most magnificent estates in the world.
Now then, what shape should the robot be? Well, it could be any shape you wish, it could resemble a human gardener, or organic-like carbon-based biped, or it could look like Asimov, or even a computerized looking android. Then again, perhaps it might look like an octopus with multiple arms for trimming and pruning, yes, if so it might need more sensors, and a more robust operating system. Still, it's all possible, even with current technology - totally off-the-shelf software, hardware, and sensors.
Perhaps when not in use it might take the shape of a Greek or Roman statue. Maybe the top of the head might become a bird bath. The body of the statue could be opaque colored solar cells, and the skin could be a coating that harvested energy from the sun. Maybe it should be camouflage, just as the cell towers now look like giant trees. Maybe the robot could look like a small tree in the yard, and its branches would be the arms of the robot? The sky is the limit on this, and it just takes imagination.
Consider if you will the cost to hire a groundskeeper, or a landscaping company to come in the each week and service the garden? This would save costs, and it would also put robotic engineers to work, helping us design the future, while producing robotic equipment that is not only useful, but highly efficient. It seems these days we have too many kids in college studying robotics, and they all keep making the same types of robots. It's great to see that they are learning how to do this, but it's time that we put some of these brilliant minds working on feasible applications for the real world.
A robotic gardener might charge up all day, and then only work an hour or two in the yard. Perhaps an entire cul-de-sac in a suburban neighborhood could use the same robot, it could charge up, and do a different front yard every single day. Maybe the large municipalities might put in robots to do the landscaping in the center median, it would be safer than having workers out there that might get hit by cars, and it would also save money on the city's budget, best of all the robot would never retire or require a pension.
The top of a bus stop could be a collection point for solar power and a docking station for the robot, which would come out at night, and do the trimming. Remember the robot could work at night without being able to see because its sensors are different than human eyes, and it would be using sonar, infrared, and optical flow sensors to do its work. Interestingly enough, as I was doing research for this article I did find that there were several robots, and new innovations for gardening of this type.
Unfortunately, none of them are as viable, or the right solutions to allow the robotic system to perform in the way that I have detailed in this article. That doesn't mean it's not possible, it surely is possible, and we are currently designing robots to do all sorts of other things, many complicated tasks, and when you think about it, this task is complex, but it is also very simple. If something goes wrong with the robot, the worse that can happen is that it cuts the wrong branch on a bush or hedge. Indeed, I hope you will please consider all this and think on it.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,500 articles by August 24th or 25th will be difficult because all the letters on his keyboard are now worn off now..
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