The TE+ND Rover, (Terrestrial Exploration + Nurture Designed) is a gardening robot/art project by Marnia Johnston (of the Orb Swarm and other fine projects).
The TE+ND Rover is a walking robot, designed to search out light and water in order to care for the carefully deployed garden of native plants on its back. Aside from being an elegantly executed display of virtuoso engineering it is also compelling for the SHEER MASSIVE ADORABILITY AND SQUEE FACTOR. Seriously, look at this thing. It is a tiny garden on legs. A TINY GARDEN ON LEGS! THAT MOVES! AND CARES FOR ITSELF!
From Marnia:
TE+ND (Terrestrial Exploration + Nurture Designed) Rovers are an interactive art project that explores migratory ecology in an era of climate change. The rovers are robotic fostering environments that care for their own garden of native California plants by interacting with participants and actively seeking out light and water. Each rover is two feet wide by three feet tall and has a hydroponic growing station on top of a mechanically walking base. The hydroponic growing station is made of ceramic material and has been designed to retain the right amount of moisture for root survival. The goal of the project is to illustrate the plight of California’s native habitats, to disperse native plants in a new way, to encourage the general public to participate in conservation and to think about what is ‘native.’
Marnia was recently spotlighted at MakerFaire for the project, and is also the latest recipient of the Visions from the New California award. The award comes with a residency at the Exploratorium, so if you are in the greater Bay Area in the next month or so, you should go down and see Marnia in action at the Explo. There is also an ongoing exhibition of all the award winners at the Kala Art Institute in Berkeley.
In addition, you can be a part of spreading the message of TE+ND Rovers across the land by throwing your pocket change at the TE+ND Rover Indiegogo Project. The award grant covers half the cost to build the first fleet of TE+ND Rovers, but the last half is up to everyone who ever wanted a little robot to wander around their yard, exuding science and sweetness and inspiring little girls and boys to grown up and do science to things.
DIGITAL JUICE
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