Urinal power plants to juice up Lollapalooza-dwelling robots

Do you have to relieve yourself? Is your robot low on batteries? Your previously problematic world could soon be harmonized in one magical step. The Bristol Robotics Lab has been feeding funny trash to its Microbial Fuel Cells for quite some time -- rotten fruit, decomposed-in-sludge fly juice, grass clippings -- things like that. The Lab has now found that the nitrogen-urea-chloride-potassium-bilirubin cocktail present in urine is a particularly useful waste fuel which will play nicely with stacked fuel cells, as long as the fuel is, um... flowing. They've already partnered with waterless urinal manufacturer Ecoprod to create a portable urinal power plant that "could be used [...] at music festivals and other outdoor events," and hey, if HP can power their data centers with excrement, who can take offense to this?

[Image of Dr. Ioannis Ieropolous holding a microbial fuel cell courtesy of University of the West of England]

[bowmessage Posted Jul 28th 2010 11:06PM]

And they can add a target and a little turbine so I can aim and generate a watt or two :).

[Openwave Posted Jul 29th 2010 1:45AM]

@bowmessage I'm hoping for xbox live leaderboards

[samisax Posted Jul 29th 2010 9:09AM]

@bowmessage

If every urinal in every pub had that, we'd be lit up 24/7.

They always fight good people. Lennon, Jesus, Dr. King, now bowmessage..

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO THIS WORLD!?!?

[samisax Posted Jul 29th 2010 9:10AM]

@samisax

Sorry, wrong meeting.

[rmbrown09 Posted Jul 28th 2010 11:13PM]

When I piss Ill generate over 9,000 watts

[Spiky haired boy Posted Jul 29th 2010 12:33AM]

@rmbrown09
IT'S OVER 9,000!!!!

[LiqwidZero Posted Jul 29th 2010 12:56AM]

@Spiky haired boy
It's been corrected. It's 8,000, now.

[chrisp Posted Jul 29th 2010 4:23AM]

@rmbrown09 Pffff, when I piss I'll generate OVER 1.21 JIGGAWATTS!!!

[Ellianth Posted Jul 29th 2010 9:00AM]

@chrisp it must burn coming out. How many diseases do u have? :P

[sirphunkee Posted Jul 28th 2010 11:25PM]

Pardon me for a moment, I need to go "recharge the robot"

[joshky Posted Jul 28th 2010 11:29PM]

i certainly hope he's not holding a cell that was just pulled out of the test machine....

[Bacchus027 Posted Jul 28th 2010 11:49PM]

Sounds a little Back to the Future, doesn't it?

[Devin Posted Jul 29th 2010 1:02AM]

How much urine would it take to power a BlackPad?

[rmbrown09 Posted Jul 29th 2010 1:12AM]

@Devin Probably a Black #$@#

[samisax Posted Jul 29th 2010 9:06AM]

@rmbrown09

You mean, a BlackTurd.

[yrag Posted Jul 29th 2010 1:19AM]

One systems excrement is another systems diner.

And the circle of poop is complete.

[Diesel1313 Posted Jul 29th 2010 2:29AM]

Brilliant this sounds like back to the future but for real !

[edf Posted Jul 29th 2010 3:26AM]

My phone is about to die... excuse me while I whip this out!

[edf Posted Jul 29th 2010 3:29AM]

A good excuse to have another beer.

[Someguyperson Posted Jul 29th 2010 7:39AM]

I don't like the fact that that gizmo uses urine and that guy looks like a chef.

[MrScottFletcher Posted Jul 29th 2010 11:03AM]

Like Archie Bunker says: "You can never buy electrcity, you just rent it."

[eSocrates Posted Jul 30th 2010 12:00AM]

Adam Corolla is gonna be pissed when he reads this.

[Tegdagne Posted Jul 30th 2010 9:55AM]

Watt a pisstake.