{"id":2180,"date":"2017-03-18T22:08:41","date_gmt":"2017-03-18T19:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artificialbrain.xyz\/?p=2180"},"modified":"2017-03-18T22:09:43","modified_gmt":"2017-03-18T19:09:43","slug":"a-robot-that-eats-pollution-jonathan-rossiter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newworldai.com\/a-robot-that-eats-pollution-jonathan-rossiter\/","title":{"rendered":"A robot that eats pollution: Jonathan Rossiter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Meet the &#8220;Row-bot,&#8221; a robot that cleans up pollution and generates the electricity needed to power itself by swallowing dirty water. Roboticist Jonathan Rossiter explains how this special swimming machine, which uses a microbial fuel cell to neutralize algal blooms and oil slicks, could be a precursor to biodegradable, autonomous pollution-fighting robots.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CVdPhUPO5YU\" width=\"760\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\" style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span id=\"t-720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"720\">&#8220;I&#8217;m an engineer<\/span> <span id=\"t-2160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"2160\">and I make robots.<\/span> <span id=\"t-4160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"4160\">Now, of course you all know what a robot is, right?<\/span> <span id=\"t-7680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"7680\">If you don&#8217;t, you&#8217;d probably go to Google,<\/span> <span id=\"t-9880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"9880\">and you&#8217;d ask Google what a robot is.<\/span> <span id=\"t-11760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"11760\">So let&#8217;s do that.<\/span> <span id=\"t-13640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"13640\">We&#8217;ll go to Google and this is what we get.<\/span> <span id=\"t-16400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"16400\">Now, you can see here there are lots of different types of robots,<\/span> <span id=\"t-19600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"19600\">but they&#8217;re predominantly humanoid in structure.<\/span> <span id=\"t-23360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"23360\">And they look pretty conventional<\/span> <span id=\"t-25040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"25040\">because they&#8217;ve got plastic, they&#8217;ve got metal,<\/span> <span id=\"t-27520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"27520\">they&#8217;ve got motors and gears and so on.<\/span> <span id=\"t-29840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"29840\">Some of them look quite friendly,<\/span> <span id=\"t-31480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"31480\">and you could go up and you could hug them.<\/span> <span id=\"t-33560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"33560\">Some of them not so friendly,<\/span> <span id=\"t-35000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"35000\">they look like they&#8217;re straight out of &#8220;<strong>Terminator<\/strong>,&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-37480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"37480\">in fact they may well be straight out of &#8220;Terminator.&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-40040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"40040\">You can do lots of really cool things with these robots \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-42800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"42800\">you can do really exciting stuff.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-44440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"44440\">But I&#8217;d like to look at different kinds of robots \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-47400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"47400\">I want to make different kinds of robots.<\/span> <span id=\"t-49400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"49400\">And I take inspiration from the things that don&#8217;t look like us,<\/span> <span id=\"t-52840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"52840\">but look like these.<\/span> <span id=\"t-54680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"54680\">So these are natural biological organisms<\/span> <span id=\"t-57280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"57280\">and they do some really cool things that we can&#8217;t,<\/span> <span id=\"t-59880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"59880\">and current robots can&#8217;t either.<\/span> <span id=\"t-62400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"62400\">They do all sorts of great things like moving around on the floor;<\/span> <span id=\"t-65600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"65600\">they go into our gardens and they eat our crops;<\/span><span id=\"t-67880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"67880\">they climb trees;<\/span> <span id=\"t-69160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"69160\">they go in water, they come out of water;<\/span> <span id=\"t-71400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"71400\">they trap insects and digest them.<\/span> <span id=\"t-74000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"74000\">So they do really interesting things.<\/span> <span id=\"t-75840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"75840\">They live, they breathe, they die,<\/span> <span id=\"t-79240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"79240\">they eat things from the environment.<\/span> <span id=\"t-81080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"81080\">Our current robots don&#8217;t really do that.<\/span> <span id=\"t-83680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"83680\">Now, wouldn&#8217;t it be great<\/span> <span id=\"t-84920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"84920\">if you could use some of those characteristics in future robots<\/span> <span id=\"t-88600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"88600\">so that you could solve some really interesting problems?<\/span> <span id=\"t-91320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"91320\">I&#8217;m going to look at a couple of problems now in the environment<\/span> <span id=\"t-94400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"94400\">where we can use the skills and the technologies\u00a0<\/span><span id=\"t-97160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"97160\">derived from these animals<\/span> <span id=\"t-99200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"99200\">and from the plants,<\/span> <span id=\"t-100760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"100760\">and we can use them to solve those problems.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-102880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"102880\">Let&#8217;s have a look at two environmental problems.<\/span> <span id=\"t-105960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"105960\">They&#8217;re both of our making \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-107400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"107400\">this is man interacting with the environment<\/span> <span id=\"t-109880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"109880\">and doing some rather unpleasant things.<\/span> <span id=\"t-112280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"112280\">The first one is to do with the pressure of population.<\/span> <span id=\"t-116440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"116440\">Such is the pressure of population around the world<\/span> <span id=\"t-118880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"118880\">that agriculture and farming is required to produce more and more crops.<\/span> <span id=\"t-123040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"123040\">Now, to do that,<\/span> <span id=\"t-124280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"124280\">farmers put more and more chemicals onto the land.<\/span><span id=\"t-126680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"126680\">They put on fertilizers, nitrates, pesticides \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-129840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"129840\">all sorts of things that encourage the growth of the crops,<\/span><span id=\"t-133240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"133240\">but there are some negative impacts.<\/span> <span id=\"t-135400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"135400\">One of the negative impacts is if you put lots of fertilizer on the land,<\/span> <span id=\"t-138880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"138880\">not all of it goes into the crops.<\/span> <span id=\"t-141320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"141320\">Lots of it stays in the soil,<\/span> <span id=\"t-143920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"143920\">and then when it rains,<\/span> <span id=\"t-145400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"145400\">these chemicals go into the water table.<\/span> <span id=\"t-147920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"147920\">And in the water table,<\/span> <span id=\"t-149200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"149200\">then they go into streams, into lakes, into rivers<\/span> <span id=\"t-152720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"152720\">and into the sea.<\/span> <span id=\"t-154400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"154400\">Now, if you put all of these chemicals, these nitrates,<\/span> <span id=\"t-157040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"157040\">into those kinds of environments,<\/span> <span id=\"t-158680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"158680\">there are organisms in those environments that will be affected by that \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-162480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"162480\">algae, for example.<\/span> <span id=\"t-164120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"164120\">Algae loves nitrates, it loves fertilizer,<\/span> <span id=\"t-166680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"166680\">so it will take in all these chemicals,<\/span> <span id=\"t-168800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"168800\">and if the conditions are right, it will mass produce.<\/span><span id=\"t-171760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"171760\">It will produce masses and masses of new algae.<\/span> <span id=\"t-174040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"174040\">That&#8217;s called a bloom.<\/span> <span id=\"t-175600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"175600\">The trouble is that when algae reproduces like this,<\/span> <span id=\"t-178800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"178800\">it starves the water of oxygen.<\/span> <span id=\"t-181480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"181480\">As soon as you do that,<\/span> <span id=\"t-182760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"182760\">the other organisms in the water can&#8217;t survive.<\/span> <span id=\"t-186080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"186080\">So, what do we do?<\/span> <span id=\"t-188120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"188120\">We try to produce a robot that will eat the algae,<\/span> <span id=\"t-192160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"192160\">consume it and make it safe.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-194040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"194040\">So that&#8217;s the first problem.<\/span> <span id=\"t-195960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"195960\">The second problem is also of our making,<\/span> <span id=\"t-198480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"198480\">and it&#8217;s to do with oil pollution.<\/span><span id=\"t-200800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"200800\">Now, oil comes out of the engines that we use,<\/span> <span id=\"t-204560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"204560\">the boats that we use.<\/span> <span id=\"t-205920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"205920\">Sometimes tankers flush their oil tanks into the sea,<\/span> <span id=\"t-209000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"209000\">so oil is released into the sea that way.<\/span> <span id=\"t-211280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"211280\">Wouldn&#8217;t it be nice if we could treat that in some way<\/span> <span id=\"t-213880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"213880\">using robots that could eat the pollution the oil fields have produced?<\/span> <span id=\"t-219160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"219160\">So that&#8217;s what we do.<\/span><span id=\"t-220800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"220800\">We make robots that will eat pollution.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-223880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"223880\">To actually make the robot,<\/span> <span id=\"t-225240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"225240\">we take inspiration from two organisms.<\/span> <span id=\"t-228280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"228280\">On the right there you see the basking shark.<\/span> <span id=\"t-230440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"230440\">The basking shark is a massive shark.<\/span> <span id=\"t-233000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"233000\">It&#8217;s noncarnivorous, so you can swim with it,<\/span> <span id=\"t-235600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"235600\">as you can see.<\/span> <span id=\"t-237080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"237080\">And the basking shark opens its mouth,<\/span> <span id=\"t-238960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"238960\">and it swims through the water, collecting plankton.<\/span> <span id=\"t-242880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"242880\">As it does that, it digests the food,<\/span> <span id=\"t-245120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"245120\">and then it uses that energy in its body to keep moving.<\/span> <span id=\"t-249400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"249400\">So, could we make a robot like that \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-251280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"251280\">like the basking shark that chugs through the water<\/span> <span id=\"t-253840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"253840\">and eats up pollution?<\/span> <span id=\"t-256160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"256160\">Well, let&#8217;s see if we can do that.<\/span> <span id=\"t-257920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"257920\">But also, we take the inspiration from other organisms.<\/span> <span id=\"t-261000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"261000\">I&#8217;ve got a picture here of a water boatman,<\/span> <span id=\"t-263080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"263080\">and the water boatman is really cute.<\/span> <span id=\"t-264920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"264920\">When it&#8217;s swimming in the water,<\/span> <span id=\"t-266520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"266520\">it uses its paddle-like legs to push itself forward.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-269600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"269600\">So we take those two organisms<\/span> <span id=\"t-271640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"271640\">and we combine them together to make a new kind of robot.<\/span> <span id=\"t-275320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"275320\">In fact, because we&#8217;re using the water boatman as inspiration,<\/span> <span id=\"t-278520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"278520\">and our robot sits on top of the water,<\/span> <span id=\"t-281320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"281320\">and it rows,<\/span><span id=\"t-282600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"282600\">we call it the &#8220;Row-bot.&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-284840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"284840\">So a Row-bot is a robot that rows.<\/span> <span id=\"t-288720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"288720\">OK. So what does it look like?<\/span> <span id=\"t-291440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"291440\">Here&#8217;s some pictures of the Row-bot,<\/span> <span id=\"t-293200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"293200\">and you&#8217;ll see,<\/span> <span id=\"t-294440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"294440\">it doesn&#8217;t look anything like the robots we saw right at the beginning.<\/span> <span id=\"t-297800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"297800\">Google is wrong; robots don&#8217;t look like that,<\/span> <span id=\"t-299960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"299960\">they look like this.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-301200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"301200\">So I&#8217;ve got the Row-bot here.<\/span> <span id=\"t-303000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"303000\">I&#8217;ll just hold it up for you.<\/span> <span id=\"t-304440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"304440\">It gives you a sense of the scale,<\/span> <span id=\"t-306120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"306120\">and it doesn&#8217;t look anything like the others.<\/span> <span id=\"t-308280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"308280\">OK, so it&#8217;s made out of plastic,<\/span> <span id=\"t-309920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"309920\">and we&#8217;ll have a look now at the components<\/span> <span id=\"t-312000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"312000\">that make up the Row-bot \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-313340\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"313340\">what makes it really special.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-315760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"315760\">The Row-bot is made up of three parts,<\/span> <span id=\"t-318600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"318600\">and those three parts are really like the parts of any organism.<\/span> <span id=\"t-321920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"321920\">It&#8217;s got a brain,<\/span> <span id=\"t-323600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"323600\">it&#8217;s got a body<\/span> <span id=\"t-325000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"325000\">and it&#8217;s got a stomach.<\/span> <span id=\"t-327320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"327320\">It needs the stomach to create the energy.<\/span> <span id=\"t-329760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"329760\">Any Row-bot will have those three components,<\/span> <span id=\"t-332000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"332000\">and any organism will have those three components,<\/span> <span id=\"t-334400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"334400\">so let&#8217;s go through them one at a time.<\/span> <span id=\"t-336320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"336320\">It has a body,<\/span> <span id=\"t-337600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"337600\">and its body is made out of plastic,<\/span> <span id=\"t-339400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"339400\">and it sits on top of the water.<\/span> <span id=\"t-341640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"341640\">And it&#8217;s got flippers on the side here \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-344600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"344600\">paddles that help it move,<\/span> <span id=\"t-346120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"346120\">just like the water boatman.<\/span> <span id=\"t-348200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"348200\">It&#8217;s got a plastic body,<\/span> <span id=\"t-349560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"349560\">but it&#8217;s got a soft rubber mouth here,<\/span> <span id=\"t-352440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"352440\">and a mouth here \u2014 it&#8217;s got two mouths.<\/span> <span id=\"t-354360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"354360\">Why does it have two mouths?<\/span> <span id=\"t-355800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"355800\">One is to let the food go in<\/span> <span id=\"t-357640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"357640\">and the other is to let the food go out.<\/span> <span id=\"t-359600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"359600\">So you can see really it&#8217;s got a mouth and a derriere,<\/span> <span id=\"t-363120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"363120\">or a \u2014<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-365400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"365400\">something where the stuff comes out,<\/span> <span id=\"t-367160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"367160\">which is just like a real organism.<\/span> <span id=\"t-368880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"368880\">So it&#8217;s starting to look like that basking shark.<\/span> <span id=\"t-371720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"371720\">So that&#8217;s the body.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-373120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"373120\">The second component might be the stomach.<\/span> <span id=\"t-376280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"376280\">We need to get the energy into the robot and we need to treat the pollution,<\/span> <span id=\"t-380200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"380200\">so the pollution goes in,<\/span> <span id=\"t-381760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"381760\">and it will do something.<\/span> <span id=\"t-383280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"383280\">It&#8217;s got a cell in the middle here called a microbial fuel cell.<\/span> <span id=\"t-386880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"386880\">I&#8217;ll put this down, and I&#8217;ll lift up the fuel cell.<\/span> <span id=\"t-390200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"390200\">Here. So instead of having batteries,<\/span> <span id=\"t-392080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"392080\">instead of having a conventional power system,<\/span> <span id=\"t-394280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"394280\">it&#8217;s got one of these.<\/span> <span id=\"t-395560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"395560\">This is its stomach.<\/span> <span id=\"t-396840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"396840\">And it really is a stomach<\/span> <span id=\"t-398120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"398120\">because you can put energy in this side in the form of pollution,<\/span> <span id=\"t-401560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"401560\">and it creates electricity.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-403240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"403240\">So what is it?<\/span> <span id=\"t-404480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"404480\">It&#8217;s called a microbial fuel cell.<\/span> <span id=\"t-406160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"406160\">It&#8217;s a little bit like a chemical fuel cell,<\/span> <span id=\"t-408280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"408280\">which you might have come across in school,<\/span> <span id=\"t-410320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"410320\">or you might&#8217;ve seen in the news.<\/span> <span id=\"t-411960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"411960\">Chemical fuel cells take hydrogen and oxygen,<\/span><span id=\"t-414120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"414120\">and they can combine them together and you get electricity.<\/span> <span id=\"t-416960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"416960\">That&#8217;s well-established technology; it was in the Apollo space missions.<\/span> <span id=\"t-420400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"420400\">That&#8217;s from 40, 50 years ago.<\/span> <span id=\"t-422440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"422440\">This is slightly newer.<\/span> <span id=\"t-423720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"423720\">This is a microbial fuel cell.<\/span> <span id=\"t-425200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"425200\">It&#8217;s the same principle:<\/span> <span id=\"t-426480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"426480\">it&#8217;s got oxygen on one side,<\/span> <span id=\"t-427920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"427920\">but instead of having hydrogen on the other,<\/span> <span id=\"t-430040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"430040\">it&#8217;s got some soup,<\/span> <span id=\"t-431360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"431360\">and inside that soup there are living microbes.<\/span> <span id=\"t-434200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"434200\">Now, if you take some organic material \u2014<\/span><span id=\"t-436920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"436920\">could be some waste products, some food,<\/span> <span id=\"t-439280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"439280\">maybe a bit of your sandwich \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-440800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"440800\">you put it in there, the microbes will eat that food,<\/span> <span id=\"t-443640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"443640\">and they will turn it into electricity.<\/span> <span id=\"t-446400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"446400\">Not only that, but if you select the right kind of microbes,<\/span> <span id=\"t-449920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"449920\">you can use the microbial fuel cell to treat some of the pollution.<\/span> <span id=\"t-454400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"454400\">If you choose the right microbes,<\/span> <span id=\"t-456040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"456040\">the microbes will eat the algae.<\/span> <span id=\"t-458680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"458680\">If you use other kinds of microbes,<\/span> <span id=\"t-461040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"461040\">they will eat petroleum spirits and crude oil.<\/span> <span id=\"t-464960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"464960\">So you can see how this stomach could be used<\/span> <span id=\"t-467680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"467680\">to not only treat the pollution<\/span> <span id=\"t-470960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"470960\">but also to generate electricity from the pollution.<\/span> <span id=\"t-474400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"474400\">So the robot will move through the environment,<\/span> <span id=\"t-477200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"477200\">taking food into its stomach,<\/span> <span id=\"t-479320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"479320\">digest the food, create electricity,<\/span> <span id=\"t-481840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"481840\">use that electricity to move through the environment<\/span> <span id=\"t-484360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"484360\">and keep doing this.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-485600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"485600\">Let&#8217;s see what happens when we run the Row-bot \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-489160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"489160\">when it does some rowing.<\/span> <span id=\"t-490560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"490560\">Here we&#8217;ve got a couple of videos,<\/span> <span id=\"t-492240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"492240\">the first thing you&#8217;ll see \u2014 hopefully you can see here<\/span> <span id=\"t-494920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"494920\">is the mouth open.<\/span> <span id=\"t-496240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"496240\">The front mouth and the bottom mouth open,<\/span> <span id=\"t-499280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"499280\">and it will stay opened enough,<\/span> <span id=\"t-500840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"500840\">then the robot will start to row forward.<\/span> <span id=\"t-502880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"502880\">It moves through the water<\/span> <span id=\"t-504160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"504160\">so that food goes in as the waste products go out.<\/span> <span id=\"t-507280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"507280\">Once it&#8217;s moved enough,<\/span> <span id=\"t-508560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"508560\">it stops and then it closes the mouth \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-511520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"511520\">slowly closes the mouths \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-513960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"513960\">and then it will sit there,<\/span> <span id=\"t-515640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"515640\">and it will digest the food.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-518000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"518000\">Of course these microbial fuel cells,<\/span> <span id=\"t-520720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"520720\">they contain microbes.<\/span> <span id=\"t-522000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"522000\">What you really want is lots of energy<\/span> <span id=\"t-523880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"523880\">coming out of those microbes as quickly as possible.<\/span> <span id=\"t-526520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"526520\">But we can&#8217;t force the microbes<\/span> <span id=\"t-528120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"528120\">and they generate a small amount of electricity per second.<\/span> <span id=\"t-531160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"531160\">They generate milliwatts, or microwatts.<\/span> <span id=\"t-534440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"534440\">Let&#8217;s put that into context.<\/span><span id=\"t-536320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"536320\">Your mobile phone for example,<\/span> <span id=\"t-537880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"537880\">one of these modern ones,<\/span> <span id=\"t-539280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"539280\">if you use it, it takes about one watt.<\/span> <span id=\"t-541520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"541520\">So that&#8217;s a thousand or a million times as much energy that that uses<\/span> <span id=\"t-545360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"545360\">compared to the microbial fuel cell.<\/span><span id=\"t-548000\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"548000\">How can we cope with that?<\/span> <span id=\"t-549600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"549600\">Well, when the Row-bot has done its digestion,<\/span> <span id=\"t-552480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"552480\">when it&#8217;s taken the food in,<\/span><span id=\"t-553960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"553960\">it will sit there and it will wait until it has consumed all that food.<\/span> <span id=\"t-557520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"557520\">That could take some hours, it could take some days.<\/span> <span id=\"t-560760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"560760\">A typical cycle for the Row-bot looks like this:<\/span> <span id=\"t-564480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"564480\">you open your mouth,<\/span> <span id=\"t-565760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"565760\">you move,<\/span> <span id=\"t-567040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"567040\">you close your mouth<\/span> <span id=\"t-568320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"568320\">and you sit there for a while waiting.<\/span> <span id=\"t-570200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"570200\">Once you digest your food,<\/span> <span id=\"t-571600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"571600\">then you can go about doing the same thing again.<\/span> <span id=\"t-574440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"574440\">But you know what, that looks like a real organism, doesn&#8217;t it?<\/span> <span id=\"t-577440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"577440\">It looks like the kind of thing we do.<\/span> <span id=\"t-579320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"579320\">Saturday night, we go out, open our mouths,<\/span> <span id=\"t-581400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"581400\">fill our stomachs,<\/span> <span id=\"t-582960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"582960\">sit in front of the telly and digest.<\/span> <span id=\"t-585920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"585920\">When we&#8217;ve had enough, we do the same thing again.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-588320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"588320\">If we&#8217;re lucky with this cycle,<\/span> <span id=\"t-591200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"591200\">at the end of the cycle we&#8217;ll have enough energy left over<\/span> <span id=\"t-594760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"594760\">for us to be able to do something else.<\/span> <span id=\"t-596920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"596920\">We could send a message, for example.<\/span> <span id=\"t-598960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"598960\">We could send a message saying,<\/span><span id=\"t-600480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"600480\">&#8220;This is how much pollution I&#8217;ve eaten recently,&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-602840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"602840\">or, &#8220;This is the kind of stuff that I&#8217;ve encountered,&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-605440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"605440\">or, &#8220;This is where I am.&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-607800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"607800\">That ability to send a message saying, &#8220;This is where I am,&#8221;<\/span> <span id=\"t-611080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"611080\">is really, really important.<\/span> <span id=\"t-613040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"613040\">If you think about the oil slicks that we saw before,<\/span> <span id=\"t-615560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"615560\">or those massive algal blooms,<\/span> <span id=\"t-617040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"617040\">what you really want to do is put your Row-bot out there,<\/span> <span id=\"t-619760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"619760\">and it eats up all of those pollutions,<\/span> <span id=\"t-621760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"621760\">and then you have to go collect them.<\/span> <span id=\"t-623960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"623960\">Why?<\/span> <span id=\"t-625200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"625200\">Because these Row-bots at the moment,<\/span> <span id=\"t-627040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"627040\">this Row-bot I&#8217;ve got here,<\/span> <span id=\"t-628400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"628400\">it contains motors, it contains wires,<\/span> <span id=\"t-630280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"630280\">it contains components which themselves are not biodegradable.<\/span> <span id=\"t-633760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"633760\">Current Row-bots contain things like toxic batteries.<\/span> <span id=\"t-636520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"636520\">You can&#8217;t leave those in the environment,<\/span> <span id=\"t-638520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"638520\">so you need to track them,<\/span> <span id=\"t-640040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"640040\">and then when they&#8217;ve finished their job of work,<\/span> <span id=\"t-642400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"642400\">you need to collect them.<\/span> <span id=\"t-643680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"643680\">That limits the number of Row-bots you can use.<\/span> <span id=\"t-646040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"646040\">If, on the other hand,<\/span> <span id=\"t-647320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"647320\">you have robot a little bit like a biological organism,<\/span> <span id=\"t-650480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"650480\">when it comes to the end of its life,<\/span> <span id=\"t-652600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"652600\">it dies and it degrades to nothing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-655080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"655080\">So wouldn&#8217;t it be nice if these robots,<\/span> <span id=\"t-657440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"657440\">instead of being like this, made out of plastic,<\/span> <span id=\"t-659703\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"659703\">were made out of other materials,<\/span> <span id=\"t-661320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"661320\">which when you throw them out there,<\/span> <span id=\"t-663080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"663080\">they biodegrade to nothing?<\/span> <span id=\"t-664440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"664440\">That changes the way in which we use robots.<\/span> <span id=\"t-666560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"666560\">Instead of putting 10 or 100 out into the environment,<\/span> <span id=\"t-669960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"669960\">having to track them,<\/span><span id=\"t-671240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"671240\">and then when they die,<\/span> <span id=\"t-672600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"672600\">collect them,<\/span> <span id=\"t-673840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"673840\">you could put a thousand,<\/span> <span id=\"t-675560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"675560\">a million, a billion robots into the environment.<\/span> <span id=\"t-678320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"678320\">Just spread them around.<\/span> <span id=\"t-680160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"680160\">You know that at the end of their lives, they&#8217;re going to degrade to nothing.<\/span> <span id=\"t-683800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"683800\">You don&#8217;t need to worry about them.<\/span> <span id=\"t-685520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"685520\">So that changes the way in which you think about robots<\/span> <span id=\"t-688160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"688160\">and the way you deploy them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-689560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"689560\">Then the question is: Can you do this?<\/span> <span id=\"t-691440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"691440\">Well, yes, we have shown that you can do this.<\/span> <span id=\"t-693640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"693640\">You can make robots which are biodegradable.<\/span> <span id=\"t-695760\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"695760\">What&#8217;s really interesting is you can use household materials<\/span> <span id=\"t-698640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"698640\">to make these biodegradable robots.<\/span> <span id=\"t-700360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"700360\">I&#8217;ll show you some; you might be surprised.<\/span> <span id=\"t-702960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"702960\">You can make a robot out of jelly.<\/span> <span id=\"t-705880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"705880\">Instead of having a motor, which we have at the moment,<\/span> <span id=\"t-708680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"708680\">you can make things called artificial muscles.<\/span> <span id=\"t-711160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"711160\">Artificial muscles are smart materials,<\/span> <span id=\"t-713480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"713480\">you apply electricity to them,<\/span> <span id=\"t-714960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"714960\">and they contract, or they bend or they twist.<\/span> <span id=\"t-717160\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"717160\">They look like real muscles.<\/span> <span id=\"t-719400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"719400\">So instead of having a motor, you have these artificial muscles.<\/span> <span id=\"t-722424\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"722424\">And you can make artificial muscles out of jelly.<\/span> <span id=\"t-725280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"725280\">If you take some jelly and some salts,<\/span> <span id=\"t-727240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"727240\">and do a bit of jiggery-pokery,<\/span> <span id=\"t-728840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"728840\">you can make an artificial muscle.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-730640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"730640\">We&#8217;ve also shown you can make the microbial fuel cell&#8217;s stomach<\/span> <span id=\"t-734240\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"734240\">out of paper.<\/span> <span id=\"t-735680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"735680\">So you could make the whole robot out of biodegradable materials.<\/span> <span id=\"t-739480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"739480\">You throw them out there, and they degrade to nothing.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-743600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"743600\">Well, this is really, really exciting.<\/span> <span id=\"t-745480\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"745480\">It&#8217;s going to totally change the way in which we think about robots,<\/span> <span id=\"t-748695\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"748695\">but also it allows you to be really creative<\/span> <span id=\"t-750960\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"750960\">in the way in which you think about what you can do with these robots.<\/span> <span id=\"t-754320\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"754320\">I&#8217;ll give you an example.<\/span> <span id=\"t-755600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"755600\">If you can use jelly to make a robot \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-758200\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"758200\">now, we eat jelly, right?<\/span> <span id=\"t-760120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"760120\">So, why not make something like this?<\/span> <span id=\"t-762640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"762640\">A robot gummy bear.<\/span> <span id=\"t-765120\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"765120\">Here, I&#8217;ve got some I prepared earlier.<\/span> <span id=\"t-767920\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"767920\">There we go. I&#8217;ve got a packet \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-770560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"770560\">and I&#8217;ve got a lemon-flavored one.<\/span> <span id=\"t-773600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"773600\">I&#8217;ll take this gummy bear \u2014 he&#8217;s not robotic, OK?<\/span><span id=\"t-776360\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"776360\">We have to pretend.<\/span> <span id=\"t-777600\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"777600\">And what you do with one of these is you put it in your mouth \u2014<\/span> <span id=\"t-780640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"780640\">the lemon&#8217;s quite nice.<\/span> <span id=\"t-782720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"782720\">Try not to chew it too much, it&#8217;s a robot, it may not like it.<\/span> <span id=\"t-786840\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"786840\">And then you swallow it.<\/span> <span id=\"t-789080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"789080\">And then it goes into your stomach.<\/span> <span id=\"t-790800\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"790800\">And when it&#8217;s inside your stomach, it moves, it thinks, it twists, it bends,<\/span> <span id=\"t-794640\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"794640\">it does something.<\/span> <span id=\"t-795880\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"795880\">It could go further down into your intestines,<\/span> <span id=\"t-798080\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"798080\">find out whether you&#8217;ve got some ulcer or cancer,<\/span> <span id=\"t-800440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"800440\">maybe do an injection, something like that.<\/span> <span id=\"t-802560\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"802560\">You know that once it&#8217;s done its job of work,<\/span> <span id=\"t-805440\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"805440\">it could be consumed by your stomach,<\/span> <span id=\"t-807680\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"807680\">or if you don&#8217;t want that,<\/span> <span id=\"t-809400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"809400\">it could go straight through you,<\/span> <span id=\"t-811040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"811040\">into the toilet,<\/span><span id=\"t-812280\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"812280\">and be degraded safely in the environment.<\/span> <span id=\"t-814520\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"814520\">So this changes the way, again, in which we think about robots.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"talk-transcript__para\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\"><span class=\"talk-transcript__para__text\"><span id=\"t-818720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"818720\">So, we started off looking at robots that would eat pollution,<\/span> <span id=\"t-823040\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"823040\">and then we&#8217;re looking at robots which we can eat.<\/span> <span id=\"t-825720\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"825720\">I hope this gives you some idea<\/span> <span id=\"t-827400\" class=\"talk-transcript__fragment\" data-time=\"827400\">of the kinds of things we can do with future robots.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Who is Jonathan Rossiter?<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Jonathan Rossiter is Professor of Robotics at\u00a0University\u00a0of\u00a0Bristol,\u00a0and heads the Soft Robotics Group at Bristol Robotics Laboratory. His group researches soft robotics: robots and machines that go beyond conventional rigid and\u00a0motorized\u00a0technologies into the world of smart materials, reactive polymers biomimetics and compliant structures. Because they&#8217;re soft, these robots are inherently safe for interaction with the human body and with the natural environment. They can be used to deliver new healthcare treatments, wearable and assistance devices, and human-interface technologies. They wide impact from furniture to fashion and from space systems to environmental cleanup. \u00a0They can even be made biodegradable and edible.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-family: 'Open Sans';\">Currently\u00a0a major focus of Rossiter&#8217;s work is on the development of soft robotic replacement organs for cancer and trauma sufferers and on smart &#8220;trousers&#8221; to help older people stay mobile for longer.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meet the &#8220;Row-bot,&#8221; a robot that cleans up pollution and generates the electricity needed to power itself by swallowing dirty water. Roboticist Jonathan Rossiter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2182,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[444],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>A robot that eats pollution: Jonathan Rossiter - New World : Artificial Intelligence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newworldai.com\/a-robot-that-eats-pollution-jonathan-rossiter\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A robot that eats pollution: Jonathan Rossiter - New World : Artificial Intelligence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Meet the &#8220;Row-bot,&#8221; a robot that cleans up pollution and generates the electricity needed to power itself by swallowing dirty water. 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