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"What television does is rent us friends and relatives who are quite satisfactory. This is quite something, to rent artificial friends and relatives right inside the house."
- Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.
 |
| Robot Gardener | ||
| An autonomous gardening robot, taking care of plants in parks or fields. |
Someone (or something) has to do those jobs that modern people find tedious - like taking care of plants.
| A polished robot
gardner crawled here and there,
weeding and plucking and gathering waste debris in its disposal slot.
 (Robot gardener from 'War Veteran' by Philip K. Dick)
|
| Technovelgy from War Veteran,
by Philip K. Dick. Published by If in 1955 Additional resources -
|
This appears later in the story:
To his right a robot gardener worked over the same patch of grass again and again, its metallic eye-lenses intently fastened on the wizened, hunched-over figure of the old man.
Dick also calls robots "tinmen" in the story:
Compare to the automatic cultivators from Piracy Preferred (1930) by John W. Campbell, the conscious farm machines from The Hidden Colony (1935) by Otfrid von Hanstein, the robot farmer from The Turning Wheel (1954) by Philip K. Dick, the field minder from Who Can Replace A Man (1963) by Brian Aldiss, the Robomule from Bill the Galactic Hero (1965) by Harry Harrison, the robot crab from Neuromancer (1984) by William Gibson and the agricultural robot pest controller from Runaway (1985) by Michael Crichton.
David Unger sat moodily on his park bench...
The old man hobbled sullenly
after the smoothly-gliding robot. "I
thought all you tinmen were used
up in the Europa battle of '88," he
complained.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from War Veteran
More Ideas
and Technology by Philip K. Dick
Tech news articles related to War Veteran
Tech news articles related to works by Philip K. Dick
Robot Gardener-related
news articles:
- Strawberry Picking Robot In Japan
- Precision Agriculture: Robot Gardeners Serve Plant Network
- Vine Pruning Robots In New Zealand
- Robotic Lettuce Farm Has Green Thumb
- Harvey The Agricultural Robot
- Ladybird Agricultural Robot Is Solar-Powered
| MK-V Smart Tractor - Fully Electric, Farmer Optional |
| Vertical Farm In Singapore's Output Is 1.5 Tons Per Day |
| Mashambas Skyscraper Farm Design Wins |
| Self-Driving Tractors From China Plan Ahead |
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'What would you do,' Eric asked the robot cabdriver, 'if your wife had turned to stone, your best friend were a toad, and you had lost your job?'
'those suits they wear -- call them 'stillsuits' -- that reclaim the body's own water...'
'Now, except for weight and heat, the same conditions prevail in this chamber as in space.'
'there were so many worms and counterworms loose in the data-net...'
'Now, look, let's start with the three fundamental Rules of Robotics...'
'..the synthetic intellects at the Place of Knowledge had far outstripped the minds of men.'
'But after washing and drying clothes had to be smooth - free from fine lines and wrinkles ...'
