No matter how intelligent a robot might be, it’s nice knowing you can pull its plug to halt tha anti human insurrection. Whoops, not anymore. A new cohort of bots that make energy by gobbling organic matter could be the beginning of truly autonomous machines. This first wave of biomass munching robots has been designed with safe, slow, long term vocations in mind, such as surveillance, clearing land mines, or monitoring sewer pipes and other locales too dark for solar cells. Take ecobot, the tambourine size fly eating machine built by bristol robotics laboratory. Engineers hand feed this robot insects, which it digests in a microbial fuel cell essentially a tank of sludgy bacteria and oxygen that converts the insects into electricity. An eight fly meal can drive it up to seven feet.
For those inclined to fear an autonomous, chainsaw wielding robot, take comfort that its programming will restrict it to only grabbing morsels that match the shape, color and texture of plant life. It won’t consume a chocolate layer cake, because it won’t recognize it as food.
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