British researchers develop sewage-eating robot, Ecobot III

Self-sufficient autonomous robots are the future guaranteed. After DARPA sensed the need for robots that can eat and survive for themselves without human intervention, researchers at Bristol Robotics Lab in the UK, too have brought out their version of an eating robot. This synthetic gut robot or the Ecobot III as it is called, unlike the other eating robots like the one mentioned above, which feed on alternative fuels and biomass, feeds on a nutrient-rich diet from the sewage.

ecobotiii sewage eating robot

The Ecobot III syncs its synthetic gut into a special waste chamber wherein the sewage mixture is collected, and then takes up what it needs from the dispenser, this way surviving for up to seven days without human assistance. The robot needs periodic drinks of water to maintain power generation, which again is gathered by the Ecobot III from the special waste chamber. Ecobot III with its sewage waste eating skills may not be all lucrative for the military unlike the EATR robot, but is surely a great bot for gardens and gutters, that is, if researchers can work on the size. Looj could lose out to Ecobot III's self-sufficient attitude.

Via: NewScientist/PopSci