EcoBot-III: A robot with guts

Abstract

<p>This paper describes the work carried out to develop EcoBot-III, which is a robot with an artificial digestion system. The robot is powered by Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) and it is designed to collect food and water from the environment, digest the collected food and at the end of the digestion cycle, egest the waste. EcoBot-III operated successfully for 7 days when fed with anaerobic or pasteurized sludge, before mechanical failure required human intervention. Work is ongoing to improve the mechanics and thus extend the artificial agent's operational lifetime.</p>