Scientists working in the Bristol Robotics Laboratory have announced the creation of a robot called EcoBot III capable of receiving energy from organic matter, or, to put it in human terms, from eating.
EcoBot III is the third attempt at creating a prototype that does not require electricity, batteries or other forms of fuel to operate, but is self-sustaining by transforming food waste into energy.
The previous two attempts failed because the robots had no way of dumping their leftover waste and ended up "poisoned" by what they were eating, thus, eventually, breaking down. To obviate to this problem the new prototype has a system that gets rid of its own waste (just like defecating) and the scientists claim that their robot can now operate for up to 30 years if properly fed.
The idea behind this project which has received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is to construct environmentally friendly robots capable of tackling problems of sanitation as well as performing more traditional tasks.
Just imagine how useful it would be for Urbanbite restaurants and clients to have such robots at their disposal to get rid of all possible food waste and to drastically reduce the costs of garbage.
These robots could be very useful for the human race so long as, one day, they don't start eating us instead of waste.
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www.zimbabwemetro.com/32949/scientist-create-a-robot-that-eats-and-goes-to-the-bathroom/
