Perambulating spider bot keeps plants alive

I am incapable of keeping a house plant alive. My house is filled with the mummified fronds of plants as dessicated as if they had been french kissed by a race of vegetarian space vampires. I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong: too much sun, not enough water, all vice versa? Who knows.

So I need this perambulating robot spider to follow the sun around the room. It is, perhaps, my only hope to ever have a lusciously verdant apartment, short of breaking out the plastic flora and stapling them to the walls. The only problem: on hungover mornings like today's, while sweating and jacttitating on the couch, a scene presenting itself like the animated GIF above would be far too close to my nightmare fever dreams.

Plant bot [Play Coalition via Neatorama]

[#1 posted by David Carroll , October 20, 2008 9:18 AM]

John: Any dog alive would kill this thing and it's Pteridophyta passenger.

I don't have a dog, but I can see myself tripping over this contraption 'cause I have enough trouble not bumping into furniture that is in the same place every day.

However in the annals of useless but cool DIY gadgets it ranks high...

[#2 posted by iRoy , October 20, 2008 9:27 AM]

Depends on what speed the bot travels at. As it only hs to track a sunbeam then it can go relativly slow and the mut won't even notice.

[#3 posted by Alkwerte , October 20, 2008 9:45 AM]

I'll take 5 of these !
And 2 with dead-leaves-laser-cutting-system !
Thanks !

[#4 posted by michaelportent , October 20, 2008 9:56 AM]

Great. So not only do I have to worry about stubbing my toe on the furniture, but I also have to worry about the furniture stubbing its toe on me!

[#5 posted by loganbouchard , October 20, 2008 11:41 AM]

maybe you could train it to move out of the way for you.

[#6 posted by Not a Doktor , October 20, 2008 12:06 PM]

In my abode the western sun shines in at 3pm to 5pm, and then it hits the wall and reflects off that for another two hours. I'd love to see the bot try to keep pace.

[#7 posted by SC_Wolf , October 20, 2008 12:59 PM]

I for one, welcome our new robotic spider plant overlords.

[#8 posted by timmaah , October 20, 2008 1:38 PM]

I may need this...

I kept my Sago Palm alive for two years.. granted it didn't do a thing.. but now it looks dead.

[#9 posted by kpkpkp , October 20, 2008 2:39 PM]

Power it with electricity gathered from dissimilar metallic electrodes in the growth medium.

[#10 posted by Chrs , October 20, 2008 3:08 PM]

Delightful!

[#11 posted by RedShirt77 , October 20, 2008 3:36 PM]

Next up, a robot that follows the basset hound around and mops up the slobber.

[#12 posted by Anonymous , October 20, 2008 7:14 PM]

Get yourself a pothos (aka devil's ivy). This plant is practically unkillable. Put it in the shade, but not in a room that doesn't have ANY windows. Water it once a week.

This is a plant that you can grow in a pot of water with a fish in it... in an actual pot with potting soil, you should be able to keep it alive no problem. No robotic plant porter necessary!

[#13 posted by airship , October 21, 2008 7:08 AM]

Triffids.

Okay, I said it first.

[#14 posted by urshrew , October 21, 2008 10:14 AM]

I think that thing and any dog I own would be immediately at war with one another.

[#15 posted by TharkLord , October 21, 2008 12:34 PM]

I like the idea of putting a cat bed on top for extremely lazy felines.

Yoiks! - I think I just scared myself.

This could be the beginning of... Kitty Modok!

[#16 posted by fullerenedream , October 23, 2008 11:03 PM]

Reminds me of the planty guys from A Fire Upon The Deep!