It takes lots of cool technology to allow the HV-100 to see things in its environment and to find its way around to move all those pots. The robot navigates via two principle systems: a distance-measuring laser called a Lidar and infrared sensors that can read a reflective reference tape.

The Lidar allows the HV-100 to see pots and obstacles and precisely measure the distance to these objects. The system is accurate to better than an inch and is key to finding, picking up, and placing pots in the correct position on the bed. The robot surveys the pots already on the ground with Lidar and makes small adjustments to the position of each plant it puts down. The HV-100 also uses the Lidar to watch out for things on the bed like sprinkler risers, people, and other robots so it won’t run into them.

A reflective tape on a 150-foot reel is rolled out on the side of the bed or work area as a boundary for the robots to use as a reference. The operator points the robot at the source pots to be picked and presses the start button. The robot then jumps into action to find a pot and pick it up. It uses the on-board infrared sensors to find the boundary tape, turns so it is parallel to the tape, and follows the tape to the spacing area.

Once a pot is placed accurately to fill the programmed pattern, the HV-100 turns back toward the source pots and does the whole cycle again and again, until the work is done or it is told to stop.