Taking waste disposal to a new level, scientists have invented a robot powered by
collecting and ingesting organic waste, then excreting it.
Dubbed the Ecobot, scientists from the Bristol Robotic Laboratory hope their invention will someday help with recycling and reusing food waste.
Microbiologist John Greenman told the Mother Nature Network there’s an abundance of biological fuel which robots could eat to power them.
“There is organic matter anywhere on earth – leaves and soil in the forest, or even human waste such as urine and feces.”
While the lab has now created three prototypes of the design, the first worked by a
microbial fuel cell powered by E. coli bacteria that ate refined sugar.
The second used sludge microbes which broke down dead flies, rotten apples and prawn shells. But it soon became apparent the robots needed to get rid of the leftover waste somehow.
This lead to the birth of “EcoBot III”, programmed to collect and gobble up organic waste and then expel it at the end of the day.
NASA has expressed interest in creating a robot powered by human feces and further
research is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
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