We think that robot teachers may be a bit much, but what about robot gardeners? Students and researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory have developed robots that tend to tomato plants— no human intervention required. The plants themselves have soil sensors and can network with the robots, letting them know when they need water or nutrients. The robots, meanwhile, are equipped with watering pumps and robotic arms that are gentle enough to pick cherry tomatoes.

According to MIT, the researchers "hope to develop a fully autonomous greenhouse, complete with robots, pots and plants connected via computation, sensing and communication." So while we may not see a real C-3PO anytime soon, The Grapes of Wrath: Robot Edition is a possibility.

Check out a video of the bots in action after the Continue jump.

via MIT