Eco Factor: Self-sustainable robot with an artificial gut to digest food.
Researchers at the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have developed an autonomous robot, which includes an artificial gut to digest its meal and generate energy. Dubbed Ecobot III, the robot will be presented at the Artificial Life conference in Denmark in August.
The robot eats means of partially processed sewage using the nutrients for energy and excretes the remains. It also drinks water to maintain power generation. The autonomous robot also navigates towards a dispenser filled with nutrient-rich mixture and eats what it needs.
The intake is then processed by bacteria held in a stack of two tires, each with 24 microbial fuel cells. The fuel cells produce hydrogen electrons, which are later used to generate an electric current. Currently the robot has maintained itself unaided for seven days, but is extremely inefficient and uses only 1 percent of the energy available within food, making it move slowly.
Via: Physorg/New Scientist
