Droplet robotic gardener waters your plants with precision (video)

There's a new helper robot for homes called Droplet, but it has no intention of usurping Roomba's territory -- in fact, you can think of it as a Roomba for your garden. It's probably not capable of killing snakes like its badass indoor counterpart, but it can care for your plants without input. Technically, Droplet's a smart sprinkler, but it's actually more like an automated hose that aims only at plants (or anything you want) up to 30 feet away, since it was created as a means to conserve water. Of course, you'll have to configure it a bit beforehand: after adding your plants' names on Droplet's interface using a phone, laptop or tablet, you'll have to aim water at each of them, so the system can remember their locations. The robot then taps into various sources via WiFi to look up each plant's needs to determine how often and how much it should be watered. In the event that rain's coming your way, the device will hold off on doing its gardening duties, as it also gets real time data from thousands of weather stations.

Droplet's creators claim it can lower water sprinkler consumption by up to 90 percent, which is huge if true, as lawn sprinklers are one of the top water wasters. They also claim that it can save up to $265 a year on water bills, almost enough to recoup your investment should you choose to pre-order a unit from Amazon right now for $300. As for the remaining $35, well, let's just say that's just the price you'll have to pay for keeping R2D2's Mini-Me as a gardener.