HackingTheUniverse

Automated agriculture is being developed by students at MIT in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL). Sensors monitor the conditions and needs of the plants and robotic gardeners supply any needed interaction.

Gardening the CSAIL way – [mit.edu]

Precision Agriculture: Sustainable Farming in the Age of Robotics – [mit.edu]

Early in the fall of 2008, students began gathering before a raised platform of fake grass. The artificial turf was adorned with evenly spaced tomato plants, nestled in sensible terra cotta pots. And while the small cluster of plants and grow lamps might have seemed incongruous under other circumstances, this was a garden with a twist: instead of being horticulturalists, the humans were there only to program and supervise. The caretakers of the plants would be entirely robotic.

Robots With A Green Thumb – The Future Of Gardening?
– [redorbit.com}

Each of the robots is connected to a central computer system and comes equipped with a small watering pump, a robotic arm and a camera for monitoring the growth of the tomatoes. Using a set of sensors in their pots, the plants are able to communicate information about their soil conditions to the robots, letting them know when they need water or fertilizer.

The robots, however, don’t just passively take orders from the plants. Using their cameras and a program that allows them to visually gauge the growth of the tomatoes, they keep inventory, monitor growth, and even harvest tomatoes when they’re ripe. Similar technology also lets them know when it’s time to pollinate the plants.