Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences

Some plants prefer the shade, others prefer full sun. Once they’re in the ground, they’re subject to the whims of the Earth. But two artists-researchers at Purdue University show that some plants could go mobile and motor into optimum lighting conditions.

Soybots, created by Shannon McMullen and Fabian Winkler, are autonomous robots outfitted with custom planter boxes that contain soybean plants. The bots are equipped with sensors and programmed to seek out the best lighting conditions. As they roam, the robots transmit the sensor data and their coordinates to a computer screen.

Among the information displayed is a daily average of light absorbed and distance traveled.

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