Prototype Robotic “Heart” Runs Off Urine

We have seen the possibility of a urine-powered robot earlier last month, but here we are with scientists from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in the UK who claimed to have developed a prototype robotic “heart” that will successfully be able to be powered solely by human urine alone. This is an interesting development, as this prototype heart was made using a 3D printer. Needless to say, the journey is far from finished, as a full working robot happens to be under development still, as the heart is the only working component at the moment.

In fact, this “heart” is made out of a rubber-like 3D printed material that is called TangoPlus, where it can charge up to 3.5 volts and perform 33 pumps thanks to just 2 milliliters of “fresh” human urine. If one were to extrapolate this particular idea, who knows, we could have an entire slew of ecologically-friendly robots that will be able to be powered simply by using energy from waste that has been collected from urinals, and public lavatories at that. Hopefully it has some sort of useful air filter, no? It would certainly be yucky to clean the innards of the robot, especially where the urine is gathered, don’t you think so?

Edwin Kee
Categories: Medical, Robots