BristolRoboticsLaboratory
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Rowing robot powers itself by gulping dirty water
One day, you might see robots that not only survive in hazardous environments, but thrive in them. University of Bristol researchers have built Row-bot, a swimming robot that powers itself by feeding on dirty water. Its paddle both propels it forward and helps its microbial fuel cell gulp down the nutrients it needs to generate electricity. This robot might never need refueling so long as it's wading through unpleasant seas, whether they're full of algae or oil.
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]
Video: SCRATCHbot hunts like a rat for those trapped like one
Designed for search and rescue missions - which, let's face it, are only ever one loose word away from "search and destroy" - the SCRATCHbot uses its whiskers to detect disaster survivors in inhospitable or dangerous areas. The Bristol Robotics Laboratory developed the rat-inspired people searcher over the past 6 years and now hopes to find interest for it in underground and underwater projects where vision may be impaired. Far less heroic uses are also being contemplated, such as textile inspection and implementation inside intelligent vacuum cleaners that would be able to adjust their cleaning to the particular surface they sense. Video of the new bot coming to life is after the break.
Anthropomorphic robot shows off its Rock, Paper, Scissors-playing skills
BERTI (built by a partnership of the Bristol Robotics Laboratory and Elumotion Ltd.) is a fully automated robotic torso designed to perform "credible conversational gestures." The robot is capable of quite complex hand movements, and, in the demonstration video above, plays a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors with a fine gentleman wearing a Goldfinger t-shirt, becoming another addition to the long line of gaming bots. Hit the read link to find out more info about BERTI and the project. [Via Robots.net]
