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"Human beings hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn; when they do, which isn't often, on their own, the hard way."
- Robert Heinlein

Robot Crab  
  An automated gardener.  

Every passage from this award-winning novel has a sort of lyrical beauty, even when describing common objects.

It was Sunday afternoon and he stood with Molly in a sort of courtyard. White boulders, a stand of green bamboo, black gravel raked into smooth waves. A gardener, a thing like a large metal crab, was tending the bamboo...

The robot crab moved toward them, picking its way over the waves of gravel. Its bronze carapace might have been a thousand years old. When it was within a meter of her boots, it fired a burst of light, then froze for an instant, analyzing data obtained...

The crab had altered course to avoid her, but she kicked it with a smooth precision, the silver boot-tip clanging on the silver carapace. The thing fell on its back, but the bronze limbs soon righted it.

Technovelgy from Neuromancer, by William Gibson.
Published by Phantasia Press in 1984
Additional resources -

The problem of enclosing a power source, mechanics for movement and functionality, sensors and a brain to interpret sensory input is a difficult one. One solution used is to have the robot pause to consider its data.

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 self-guided tractor from At the Bottom of a Hole (1966) by Larry Niven and the agricultural robot pest controller from Runaway (1985) by Michael Crichton.

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Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from Neuromancer
  More Ideas and Technology by William Gibson
  Tech news articles related to Neuromancer
  Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson

Robot Crab-related news articles:
  - Robovac Visualizes Your Home
  - ThereminVision Sensor: Robot Proximity Detection
  - AgBots: Agricultural Robots Take The Field
  - Robot Crab: Crustacean Clockwork Automata
  - Hexbug Robot Crab
  - Robot Motion Planning 10K Times Faster

Articles related to Robotics
Mika The Robot-Boss
Sensitive, Soft Robot Skin
Finger Sensors For Robot Hands
A Vacuum With An Arm - Engineers Create Heinlein's Hired Girl Robot

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