Chewin’ and pooin’ is what Ecobot III is all about. However, it doesn’t actually chew. It’s equipped with “digestive tract” in which Microbial Fuel Cells (MFC) containing biomass hungry bacteria converts the material to hydrogen. Once the microbes have done they’re part, the waste is sent down the chute. Ingenious really. On top of that, the robot was created using rapid prototyping.
“The main objective of this project was to develop a robot with onboard fluid circulation, capable of collecting its energy from the environment and getting rid of its own waste; all of these functions are powered by the MFCs. Due to the challenging nature of this project rapid prototype technology was fully utilised in order to produce a uniquely designed, lightweight and strong robot structure comprising multiple parts.”
“collecting its energy from the environment”… i.e. YOU. This isn’t the first bio-craving robot. You may recall EATR, the robot powered by the dead. Where EATR burns combustible material to produce energy, the Ecobot III simply breaks down the material with bacteria as we would. In the unit you’ll see in the video below, there are 24 MFC’s below a “sludge distribution mechanism” where the artificial digestion process begins.
This is applied to the field of robotics by the Bristol Robotics Lab, but this could feasibly be applied to any mechanism equipped to run off of hydrogen. Yes, you may have to empty your hydrogen-powered car’s waste receptacle.
Check out the video for the momentous robo BM.
via BotJunkie. Image of pooping robot by Dan Milligan
