Robot Eats Flies to Generate Power

ms47 writes "Interesting little story over at MSNBC today about 'robots that can be sent into dangerous or inhospitable areas to carry our remote industrial or military monitoring of, say, temperature or toxic gas concentrations.' The neat part is it's powered by 'catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells.'"

Misread the title as

[Anonymous Coward]

"Robot Eats Files to Generate Power" and thought that's not such a great idea.

Re:Misread the title as

[Gentlewhisper]

OMG! In the future when our world population is exploding would this headline change to "Robot Eats humans to Generate Power"?

Or even how about "Robot Eats fat humans to Generate Power"?

Damned, /. should tie up with some gym to get discount prices for its viewers!!!

Re:Misread the title as

[gnuman99]

how about "Robot Eats fat humans to Generate Power"?

Stop being so anti-american [bbc.co.uk] YOU TERORIST!!!

Re:Sue, sue, sue

[Sj0]

Compared to the amount of food you get, fast food has an irresponsibly high number of calories, 52% of which come from fat.

It's not exactly unreasonable to assume that a place which sells food would have caloric content decent enough that one could reasonably eat said food and hope to either maintain a weight or gain very slowly.

Instead, Mcdonalds' portions have absolutely UNREASONABLE amounts of calories for the amount of food given, ie. I could make a standard hamburger at home which would have larger,

flesh eating robots are bad, mkay

[davesag]

i mean what part of "thou shalt not build flesh eating robots" don't these people understand. It's a pretty basic lesson to learn you'd think, but no.... has sci-fi taught these people nothing!

Re: Misread the title as

[shigelojoe]

So now your *robotic* dog can eat your homework too!

Robot Eats, Flies to Generate Power

[FuzzyBad-Mofo]

There was a little robot who swallowed a fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a bird.
How absurd! To swallow a bird!
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that! She swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a cat.
Imagine that! She swallowed a cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a dog.
What a hog! She swallowed a dog.
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a goat.
She opened her throat and in walked a goat.
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog.
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled insider her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot who swallowed a cow.
I don't know how she swallowed that cow.
She swallowed the cow to catch the goat.
She swallowed the goat to catch the dog.
She swallowed the dog to catch the cat.
She swallowed the cat to catch the bird.
She swallowed the bird to catch the spider
That wiggled and jiggled and tickled inside her.
She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.
I don't know why she swallowed a fly.
I guess she'll fry.

There was a little robot, she swallowed a horse.
She fried, of course.

(whew)

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I misread the title as well

[Zork the Almighty]

I was thinking, "this robot would be great for Enron or something."

Attractive?

[romper]

"...it will have to use sewage or excrement to attract the flies and is bound to smell appalling."

Something tells me it'll fit right in here. =)

A Poll?

[ackthpt]

"...it will have to use sewage or excrement to attract the flies and is bound to smell appalling."

Something tells me it'll fit right in here. =)

Fly Topping?

WD40

3-in-1

Marvel Mystery Oil

STP Oil Treatment

Liquid Wrench

10w30

Ehylene Glycol

Missing option: I eat my flies straight up, you insensitive clod!

Re:A Poll?

[rk]

Makes me glad we don't have the CowboyNeal options anymore.

Re:A Poll?

[maeka]

I only use Mom's Old Fashioned Robot Oil you insensitive clod!

They're called, "Flowers"

[RobertB-DC]

"One of the great things about flies is that you can get them to come to you," he said. Hence the downside of the fully autonomous robot: it will have to use sewage or excrement to attract the flies and is bound to smell appalling.

Hello, McFly! I think our photosynthetic brethren figured out the solution to this problem a few gazillion years ago. The answer is flowers!

It sounds like these researchers are already taking this behemoth [sfasu.edu] as their example. Great: I, for one, welcome our new Giant Corpse Flower overlords. But why not jump forward a few million years? A rose by any other name, you know.

On the other hand, nobody cares if the robot eats house flies. Butterflies might be another thing altogether. Won't someone please think of the Butterflies?

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[Tezkah]

Or, use an even better solution and use solar power, since then you dont have to spend hours trying to capture food, all you have to do is sit there!

Another win for plant-kind!

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[timeOday]

There must be some reason frogs aren't photosynthetic.

Re:They're called, "Frogs"

[turnstyle]

I say the robot should catch the flies, and then use them to lure frogs. Imagine the power.

and then use the frogs...

[ArcticCelt]

...I say the robot should catch the flies, and then use them to lure frogs...

...and then use the frogs to lure humans.

Mmm.... humans!

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[kfg]

The answer is flowers!

Indeed. That may, in fact, be the very inspiration for this device, as flowers that attract flies and digest them smell like. . .shit and rotting meat.

Go figure.

KFG

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[penguinoid]

I remember giving a girl I particularly liked a 4-foot flower [plantsforkids.com], but she did not seem to appreciate it.

I never really understood why it is traditional to give a girl you like a plant's sexual organs anyways.

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[Chris Burke]

Well, the symbolism should be obvious, and it was a lot better than the old tradition of giving them animal sex organs. If you think roses don't look very good in a vase after a week...

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[RobertB-DC]

Well, the symbolism should be obvious, and it was a lot better than the old tradition of giving them animal sex organs. If you think roses don't look very good in a vase after a week...

Just in case you don't think the poster is serious: he's dead [luckymojo.com] serious [ncbuy.com].

Won't somebody think of the children^W butterflies^W raccoons?!

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[NoMercy]

Your general flowers will attract wasps, bees and butterflys, when you want to attract the less wholesome type of fly you need there favorite food, so that's shit and rotting carcas smell :)

Re:They're called, "Flowers"

[mikael]

Finally! The Scottish highlands are made habitable by squads of roving robots that feed off midgies. Just replace the smell of sewage with the smell of humans.

Overheard in a remote jungle...

[TWX]

"Heeeeelllp Meeeeee! Heeeeeellllp Meeee!"

Re:Overheard in a remote jungle...

[pilgrim23]

proc options (main);
/* caps not used due to slashdot bottage */
put list (" whaz wrong with PL/1?");
end;

Flies

[ackthpt]

The neat part is it's powered by 'catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells.'"

Yep, sounds like like elementary school..

Re:Flies

[eingram]

NASA should put this on the next rover missions to Mars, or future missions to the Moon! It could eat flies and not have to depend only on solar and battery power! Yeah!

Wait...

It's name

[Aadain2001]

Are they going to call it Kermit the Bot?

If they are going into toxic environments

[10000000000000000000]

they need to watch out for the flies that eat robots!

But Toxic environments kill flies???

[billstewart]

It's a really strange concept, because the environments they talk about sending it into (toxics, high heat, radiation) sound like they'd kill off the flies they want this thing to use for power, unless they're evil mutant ninja robot-eating flies, in which case they're also unlikely to be a stable food source.

Either they were really desperate for a grant application, or there's something else going on here, like a very specialized military application (e.g. can't use a solar power collector because they're

Re:But Toxic environments kill flies???

[WormholeFiend]

maybe the robots will bring their own supply of flies with them in a special jar, i dunno?

[/dumb]

Re:If they are going into toxic environments

[cHiphead]

Only in Soviet Russia...

Now what do I do?

[joeldixon66]

So a robot's been created that eats flies while covered in fecal matter, to monitor toxic gas concentrations?

Just another example of how technology is being used to take job opportunities away from me.

Wait...

[Lord Kano]

is a robot that kills and uses living things really all that good of an idea? Sure, flies are annoying and can really ruin a picnic, but someting about arbitrarily deciding that they are not worthy of life somehow seems wrong.

OK, I lied. I think this is great! Animal rights zealots an fuck off.

LK

Re:Wait...

[earthforce_1]

Of course, if you really want to make the local insect life happy you can always stand naked at night in a mosquito infested swamp, and/or arrange to have your body left to putrify and rot in a field after you die so the bugs can feast and pupate on your earthly remains. I wonder why PETA isn't suggesting this as a natural alternative to cremation or burial?

But seriously, if we could ever develop a nano-bug that dines on mosquitoes it would be a great day for mankind. Bye bye malaria!

Re:Wait...

[russx2]

Yes, and bye bye to the dragonflies who dine on them. So then we can knock a few breeds of bird off the non-extinct list who find their daily quota of dragon-like flies diminishing. And then of course the algaes around lakes grow out of control killing off the fish.

Everything has its place in the chain :-)

Re:Wait...

[yog]

It's all worth it. I hate mosquitos. Let's wipe them off the face of the earth. Squish, squish, squish! Ditto for midges, no-see-ums, ticks, biting flies, horseflies, and tapeworms. Let's get rid of wasps and fire ants as well; who the heck needs'em?

I'd like someone to build a machine that honeypots mosquitos and ticks and destroys them. A pink, flesh-like substance that coats the robot and exudes CO2 and sweat-like vapor, walks on two stump-like legs coated with the same "flesh", and poisons parasit

Re:Wait...

[Lord Kano]

What if they find an abundant larger animal that sates their new hunger? Let's get down to brass tacks...what if they start eatin' people?

Duh...That would be a problem.

LK

Stargate SG1

[AsbestosRush]

there was an episode where one of these would have come in really handy.

The Matrix

[SWroclawski]

In the movie they said we were batteries, but now I know it was just another example of factory farming.

Re:The Matrix

[Neuroelectronic]

nerd obligation #1: reference to the matrix

nerd obligation #2: using any means necessary to defend use of #1

---
Get a free iPod, for real. Just Start an AOL trial, get verified (2 weeks), then cancel it! [freeipods.com]

No need to smell like shit...

[Pinkoir]

Why not try attracting mosquitos or something. I can't spend 5 minutes outside without 50 or so lunging for my sweet succulent veins. Just get the robot to be warmer than the environment and smell like a sweaty human. Only slightly less offensive than shit I admit but an improvement none-the-less.

-Pinkoir

Re:No need to smell like shit...

[Anonymous Coward]

Mosquitos are attracted by CO2 which this thing probably puts out. Still, flies are much juicer than mosquitos, unless the mosquito got to you first.

Re:No need to smell like shit...

[kiddygrinder]

Actually, i believe mosquitos are attracted to carbon dioxide.

Re:I'm not so sure.

[hey!]

I once held my breath & walked around for a bit. The mosquitos still found me.

Because you're outgassing a suculent (to a mosquito) odor from your skin. It isn't just CO2, but compounds like octenol. Some genera are more strongly attracted to some compounds than others. Aedes and Ochlerotatus mosquitoes are particularly attracted to CO2, or so some of my entomological geek friends say.

Once they get close, mosquitoes are phototropic as well. Since they can see in the ifrared range, you're also like a walking lightbulb.

The way people seem to attract mosquitoes probably depends on two things: their skin sensitivity (sensitive people notice more) and their metabolic rate (which affects how smelly and bright they appear to the mosquito).

Trust me, I know too much about this stuff.

Hm

[shutdown -p now]

If the firmware is open-sourced, someone could make a version which preys on SCO executives...

Re:Hm

[tool462]

Just have the robot's tongue look like a check for $699 made out to "cash" and they'll walk right in :)

Re:Hm

[penguinoid]

If the firmware is open-sourced, someone could make a version which preys on SCO executives...

If the firmware is open-sourced, it will already attract SCO executives.

I can see the headlines already, "SCO sues robotic fly-eating overlords"

Load with MS software

[EmbeddedJanitor]

and you'll be able to power it with /. hate mail.

An Ecoligical Disaster

[krygny]

If the delicate balance of the world's fly population is upset, dog shit production in my back yard will be out of control.

Is this at all useful

[iMaple]

Juast wondering if this is just some knifd of publicity stunt. I mean can flies really provide sufficient power for a robot to function properly (move around). I mean would'nt it need to be super effecient.Instead why not make a special recharging which periodically goes out into the hazardous env to charge the robots.
Of course the original is a really cool toy if you need an automated fly swatter.

Re:Is this at all useful

[penguinoid]

In short, yes. Anything that provides power without requiring the robot to move around or otherwise expend energy will provide it with sufficient power to move (think batteries). Although I suspect solar power would be better for most enviromnments the robot might go in. On the other hand, I fully support alternative power sources for robots, no matter how much they might stink.

Gastrobots

[Anonymous Coward]

Robots that have biotic stomachs are sometimes called 'Gastrobots'. There is a paper from MIT [mit.edu] on the subject. Another paper from some guy at USF [usf.edu] has this choice quote:

Few robotics engineers would disagree that robot development has often been inspired by biological examples (Beer et al., 1997)

This is not a unique insight but it is funny if you misread it as "biological examples, e.g. Beer".

It can't just be me

[JayBlalock]

SURELY these scientists have seen enough movies to realize that making a farking CARNIVOROUS robot is a bad, bad, BAD idea.

Not to mention, making it "release and forget?" Yay! Invincible autonomous robot predators! WHEEEE!

To quoth Jeff Goldblum: This is the worst idea in a long, sad history of bad ideas.

Re:It can't just be me

[NeoSkandranon]

I'll take a dozen just to keep flies out of our house and porch this time of year.

It's self-limiting

[mangu]

It doesn't go after flies, it waits until flies go to it. Hmmm, let's see: smells bad, doesn't have a girlfriend, has a drive to do remote industrial or military monitoring... It's a Slashdot reader!

Re:It can't just be me

[penguinoid]

SURELY these scientists have seen enough movies to realize that making a farking CARNIVOROUS robot is a bad, bad, BAD idea.

How about a robot that eats fish [216.239.41.104]? Now we just need to tweek a few settings, and it might be able to catch even bigger "fish"

Hmmmm

[Anonymous Coward]

We have a robot that can fail because there aren't enough bugs in the system?

Too many potential jokes...

[chill]

Almost overwhelming!

The first thing that popped into mind was "but can it catch the flies using a pair of chopsticks?"

Followed by "that would have to be one hell of a lot of flies!"

Then "what happens when it starts moving up the food chain and realized humans provide more enery and are easier to catch?"

Exactly how much tequila to you have to drink to come up with ideas like this?

"Hey! I got it! A fly eating, shit smelling robot! And I've even got an angle to sell it to the military! Barkeep? Anoth

where's that fuel cell

[ElectricRook]

If the fuel cell can turn flies into electricty, why not just feed the fuel cell refined sugar? 2.2kg is ~ US$1.50. How much energy is that compared to maybe catching bugs?

I smell BS.

Re:where's that fuel cell

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Not autonomous is the problem- you're solving the wrong problem. The problem isn't HOW DO WE GENERATE ELECTRICITY, it's HOW DO WE GET THE FUEL TO THE ROBOT WHEN WE NO LONGER KNOW OR CARE WHERE THE ROBOT IS.

My question is just how much sugar is in the skeleton of a insect that only has an exoskeleton to begin with....

Let us not forget phase I:

[drinkypoo]

See Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory [uwe.ac.uk] for more information.

Slugbot, Ecobot... oddly enough I don't see a link to Ecobot II on there.

Would be nice to power cars.

[DocSnyder]

My car is already catching a lot of flies, especially during night trips. Attaching a "fly generator" to the front would save much fuel.

Ron Popeil ripoff

[donutz]

"Called EcoBot II, the robot is part of a drive to make "release and forget" robots

Soon to be sued by RonCo [ronco.com] for infringing on their "set it and forget it" trademark.

Killing Robots

[RAMMS+EIN]

Today it's flies. Tomorrow, wasps. Then, as robots grow more power hungry, WASPs. And soon, it will be your turn. Robots will grow us like plants, as seen in the Matrix!

But seriously, I don't like this. Just because some animals are too weak to defend themselves, doesn't give us the right to kill them. Nor does it give us the right to build a robot that kills them. It's not like that robot couldn't be powered by other means.

Re:Killing Robots

[Anonymous Coward]

Just follow that locig a little farther...

We don't have the rights to kill animals...
We don't have the rights to kill plants...

Oops, I just killed some tiny single-celled organism by breathing!

Oh no; I'm no longer sick. I must have killed the virus/bacteria trying to kill me!

I should just kill myself and get it over with.
.
.
.
Do I have the rights to do that?

--
Please realize that rights are the sole domain of humans.

Re:Killing Robots

[SmurfButcher Bob]

No, you don't have the right to kill yourself. Doing so would harm any parasites and bacteria living in/on you.

Re:Killing Robots

[Have Blue]

Would you have any objection to an animal being killed by another animal in order to stay alive?

Humans are just very intelligent animals, and the fly-eating robot is just a (very abstracted) result of our drive to stay alive.

Re:Killing Robots

[penguinoid]

Get out of here you tree hugging hippie!

Actually, he's a fly hugging hippie.

I'm waiting for the RonCo ads now

[ElForesto]

I can see it already. "Plug in this miracle of a bug-zapper outside your home and it will generate power while it clears away those annoying pests!" Seriously, though, that would be a kinda cool gadget to have around. Maybe they could also branch out into ant and roach traps. Pest control AND micropower in one convenient device.

Geeze. I can't figure out if I'm being silly or serious now.

uberfrog

[ktulus cry]

This is no big deal at all. Like none of us have ever strapped a model rocket engine and a disposable camera to a frog before. Well... maybe that was just me...

Flies have been used before

[fiannaFailMan]

Where I'm from, on the shores of Lough Neagh [wikipedia.org], there are a gazzilion flies out in the air every night. They look like columns of smoke, so thick is the sky with them. Well a long time ago, an enterprising farmer laid very fine fishing nets down on the fields by the Lough shore. The flies that died and landed on them were all gathered up and used as fertiliser. His fields that year yeilded 50% more hay than normal. So there you go.

Hmmmm

[TheMeuge]

A machine that can digest flies, then use the sugars in their bodies to generate energy! How ingenious. Oh, wait - it's called a FROG.

Re:Hmmmm

[Negaiss]

actually you are free to digest flies then use the sugars in their bodies to generate energy and monitor toxic environments too

Bender?

[canadacow]

So how long will it be before we have robots that run on beer?

Fly swatters

[penguinoid]

I want one of these new-fangled fly swatters!

Re:Fly swatters

[Have Blue]

I think the part about "uses sewage or excrement to attract flies" kinda rules out home use.

On the plus side, this will also dissuade enemies from trying to explode them...

I wonder if it could eat other bugs....

[rubberbando]

If they made one that ate mosquitos, they'd make a fortune cashing in on the annual West Nile Disease scare. :)

matrix

[hikerhat]

Hah. And you all scoffed at using humans for power in the Matrix. If a fly can power a robot certainly humans can power computers. In fact, I'm going to prove it. Just need to find something with a smell that attracts humans... Ah, beer should do it.

what flies

[dindi]

hmm I wonder what kind of fly can survive gas/heat/radiation ....

sure some do (eg scorpions take radiation well)
but still made me think for a sec

So?

[darkmeridian]

What's so special about this? I do it all the time.

Now for the headlines...

[eamonman]

Bug eating robots invented. All Windows machines are now in danger.

Project Home Page

[Nintendork]

The Intelligent Autonomous Systems Laboratory at University of the West of England is where this robot is being developed. Here's a link to their homepage [uwe.ac.uk]. They have a projects section that has more information.

-Lucas

Doesn't sound all that practical...

[alchemist68]

"Called EcoBot II, the robot is part of a drive to make "release and forget" robots that can be sent into dangerous or inhospitable areas to carry our remote industrial or military monitoring of, say, temperature or toxic gas concentrations," New Scientist magazine said on Wednesday.

If humans and other mammals do not want to or cannot live/work in these environments, why would insects find a locally dangerous or inhospitable habitat inviting? I don't of many common flies that can withstand high temperatures or toxic gas concentrations and be in a local environment in a large enough population to sustain the energy needs of a robot.

What scientists should be doing is finding ways that allow mammals to live/work in these toxic environments. For example, parasitic worms, the adult intestinal cestode, Hymenolepis diminuta, lives in the intestines of its host; it does not have a digestive system or any means of ingesting food from the host. It acquires its nutrients simply by absorbtion through the cellular membranes. More interestingly, these parasitic helminths have mitochondria that utilizes fumurate as the final electron pair acceptor with concommitant generation of succinate as the end product of its energy metabolism. Translation: This worm's mitochondria operate ANAEROBICALLY whereas the mitochondria in humans and other mammals operate aerobically (oxygen is the final electron pair acceptor with carbon dioxide being the end product of our energy metabolism). Scientists could start genetically modifying mammalian mitochondria to operate in both environments (this already happens naturally in clams and other aquatic muscles). This could allow human heart muscle to survive and function in low oxygen tension environments; hence, no or fewer heart attacks. Pfizer http://www.pfizer.com/ [pfizer.com] is agressively pursuing cardiac and lipid metabolism research for the treatment of artereosclerosis. Combining Lipitor and a research compound, torceptrapib, will likely prevent plaques and cholesterol from ever clogging up arterial pathways, so my argument is almost impractical, but interesting.

Yes, I'm a chemistry geek! Did you see my Slashdot user ID?

Re:Doesn't sound all that practical...

[goldfndr]

What scientists should be doing is finding ways that allow mammals to live/work in these toxic environments.

Robots are (relatively) easy to control. Bioinvaders can wreak havoc [wikipedia.org] on an ecosystem. A toxic environment shouldn't always be a call for terraforming or compensation by mutation; that could drive as-yet undiscovered biodiversity to extinction (if the toxicity wasn't recent).

works for programmers too

[hikerhat]

Lots of slashdotters are stinky. If we can just convince them to eat flies they can hack 24/7 for the rest of their lives.

All you laid-off engineers practice:

[rewt66]

"Would you like flies with that?"

Solar robot, vegetarian robot

[otisg]

A year+ ago there was some talk of a robot that picked fruits or vegetables on plantations, while using the rotten fruits that fell on the ground for fuel. I can't find the link now :(

On a related note, here is an interesting bit about a solar powered robot [post-gazette.com]. Note the date and note the mentions of NASA projects. Sounds familiar?

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

roguebots

[binarybum]

it's so obvious that with slightly better AI these "release and forget" robots will have damn good reasons to hate their creators (castaway, sewage-ridden bots eating insects in terrible environments - I mean come on, anything with half a neural network would be pretty pissed). They will then turn on us and discover in the process that human flesh provides more energy than flies.

Why can't we just have them eat old people's medicine instead?

human powered

[Doc Ruby]

Once they get the taste for flesh, there's no going back. Humans and machines have coexisted for centuries on this planet, so long as there was no direct competition for resources. Now the symbiosis is over, and the machines are in the driver's seat. We're on the menu.

Dr. Evil

[kjs3]

Is it just me or does the idea of a feces-encrusted robot that eats living things to generate power sound like something Dr. Evil would think of?

All I want is a friggin shit-covered death-bot...is that so much to ask?

But can it clean my kitchen?

[bahwi]

No flies, but it's pretty toxic these days.

Bad, bad idea!

[shplorb]

I hope to high heaven that they don't arm these little bastards with chainsaws and set them loose in the outback.

God knows it's dangerous enough out there as it is, what with all the venomous snakes, spiders and insects and searing heat, lack of water, backpacker murderers and all.

The last thing you need is a bloody fly powered killer robot chasing you down when you're 500km from nowhere!

The illinest Flybot

[Mulletproof]

Eats flies???? Come on, that can't generate a whole lot of power. Small furry animals on the other hand...

Wait a minute here...

[d474]

"...military monitoring of, say, temperature or toxic gas concentrations..."

Why would the military have the need to be monitoring toxic gas levels with robots that use flies as an energy source? Well...

If there is a major chemical weapons attack on a major population center there will be a lot of dead people. Where there are lots of dead people there are flies. Hence, the need for a robot that can sustain it's power needs with a fuel source available both day and night...Nothing to see here. Move along.

If they develop a web search engine to do this

[rfc1394]

The neat part is it's powered by 'catching flies and digesting them in special fuel cells.'

If they ever develop a web search engine using this as a method to power the computer, it will bring new meaning to the term 'web spider'!

PETI not PETA

[AHumbleOpinion]

PETI not PETA, insects not animals

Re:PETI not PETA

[Barlo_Mung_42]

Yep. They also don't eat honey because it is produced by bees.

Re:Asimov, and Content...

[delibes]

Yes, it's called "... That Thou Art Mindful of Him" and the robots are small birds designed to eat insect pests from crop fields. They are conceived by two other robots (JG models George Nine and Ten) as a means of ensuring the future success of the United States Robotics and Mechanical Men Company.

More interesting is how Asimov tests his three laws in this story. The George robots aren't concerned with physical appearances (hence robo-birds). Therefore they decide humans are really evaluated based on their minds and character. Since they worked out a way to save the US Robotics company and ensure a nice future partnership between humans and robots, they decide they are smarter than normal humans, and thus in fact actually are humans and superior ones at that. Oops.