Nature and Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) _ 1

According to The Matrix (The movie), Humans invented A.I., then there was a war between humans and machines... Machines used humans as a source of energy (batteries) and cultivated humans in fields... Thats a nice story, but are we heading there?

The University Of South Florida (U.S.F.) is working on Gastrobots (picture), robots powered by themselves through the digestion of food . They are expected to be autonomous and energy self -sufficient, as long as they are out doors. In 2000, Chew-Chew was created in the U.S.F., as the first world's food powered robot. This Gastrobot can eat sugar and produce electricity out of it, and is able to move around.

The University of West England brought out the SlugBot in 2001. Slugs are very annoying as they destroy a lot of crops, this is a big problem in England. Slugs were picked up as a source of power because they move slowly. "The SlugBot navigates using a combination of the Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) system, and an active infrared localization system. It detects obstacles through a combination of ultrasonic sonar and bump sensors." from : SlugBot : Enemy of Slugs. The robot is able to generate electricity from slugs using some bacteria. It has an arm that picks up the slugs and can rotate in 360 degrees. For more about the SlugBot check this out. Such robots will be commercialized. Right now they're working on more projects check them out.

Within the next decade, we will see these products of A.I. everywhere around us. In school, at work, at home, even in public places. In Liverpool, robotic birds are being let out in the city to get rid of pigeons droppings. New friends are coming to life to helper us. Lets hope they do not get too intelligent, or even too greedy. Look out for the next article on Nature and Artificial Intelligence.

P.S. I like such projects because they unite a lot of disciplines (Bio, Chem, Mech and computer engineering or more).