Sweet tooth robot

Stuart Wilkinson of the University of Florida (USA) created the first robot in the world that eats only food.

Stuart Wilkinson claims that he feeds the robot, dubbed Chew-Chew, with sugar, because this product is completely digested by bacteria from his "stomach", without any waste. Still, meat would be the ideal food to provide the robot with the necessary energy, Wilkinson says.

Still, Chew Chew is a pretty heavyweight robot. The so-called gastro-robot consists of three cars each one meter long. “He has to be fed almost like a child, because he has neither arms nor legs,” Wilkinson said.

Many bacteria have been introduced into the robot’s stomach to convert sugar into energy.

During the decay, sugar mollekule into water and carbon dioxide produce electrons, which charge the batteries. Only when the battery of the robot is fully charged does it have enough power to move on its 12 wheels.

Wilkinson admits that this is not the newest converter of food products into electricity, but said that he was the first who managed to construct a device so small that it can be placed in a robot. In the future, robots will be able to go out and eat themselves.

At the same time, Wilkinson states that gastro-robots should not be accustomed to meat. “Otherwise, they may try to eat people,” warns the American scientist. Gastrobotics

page on the University of Florida website