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"[Science fiction is] anything that turns you and your social context, the social you, inside out."
- Gregory Benford

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:

David Unger sat moodily on his park bench...

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:

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.

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.

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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

Articles related to Agriculture
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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