joaquín fargas' rabdomante robot generates water while traversing earth's driest desert

argentina-based artist and engineer joaquín fargas invents a robot ‘rabdomante’ that searches for water among the driest landscape on earth. powered by the energy of the sun, the mobile unit is released into chile’s atacama desert, exploring the desert in a playful and poetic way. joaquín fargas hybridizes the fields of science, technology, and art to investigate the kinetic capabilities of his rabdomante machine.

all images courtesy of joaquín fargas

joaquín fargas clads his ‘rabdomante’ robot with solar panels that capture the sun’s energy and generate electricity through a photovoltaic process. the artist describes the sun as ‘the essential source of life on the planet.’ the rabdomante stores the energy in batteries which then power devices called peltier cells. water condensation occurs on the cold side of the cells once they contact the atmosphere — in this way, water is generated.

describing his rabdomante robot, joaquín fargas comments: ‘the combination of nature with technology generates a new cycle on earth, obtaining water from the atmosphere in the driest place in the world. the rabdomante thanks to its technology can capture water for reuse in the desert. this robot is a sort of fantastic creature that bridges the gap between fantasy and reality with an utopian mission that, perhaps, could be accomplished.’

project info:

project title: rabdomante

artist: joaquín fargas