1
00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:25,176
Hi, I'm an engineer

2
00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,176
and I make robots.

3
00:00:27,200 --> 00:00:30,696
Now, of course you all know
what a robot is, right?

4
00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:32,896
If you don't, you'd probably go to Google,

5
00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:34,776
and you'd ask Google what a robot is.

6
00:00:34,800 --> 00:00:36,040
So let's do that.

7
00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:39,416
We'll go to Google
and this is what we get.

8
00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,616
Now, you can see here there are
lots of different types of robots,

9
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,376
but they're predominantly
humanoid in structure.

10
00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:48,056
And they look pretty conventional

11
00:00:48,080 --> 00:00:50,536
because they've got plastic,
they've got metal,

12
00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:52,856
they've got motors and gears and so on.

13
00:00:52,880 --> 00:00:54,496
Some of them look quite friendly,

14
00:00:54,520 --> 00:00:56,576
and you could go up
and you could hug them.

15
00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:58,016
Some of them not so friendly,

16
00:00:58,040 --> 00:01:00,496
they look like they're
straight out of "Terminator,"

17
00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,056
in fact they may well be
straight out of "Terminator."

18
00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:05,816
You can do lots of really cool
things with these robots --

19
00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:07,456
you can do really exciting stuff.

20
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,416
But I'd like to look
at different kinds of robots --

21
00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,416
I want to make different kinds of robots.

22
00:01:12,440 --> 00:01:15,856
And I take inspiration
from the things that don't look like us,

23
00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:17,280
but look like these.

24
00:01:17,720 --> 00:01:20,296
So these are natural biological organisms

25
00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:22,896
and they do some
really cool things that we can't,

26
00:01:22,920 --> 00:01:25,416
and current robots can't either.

27
00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,216
They do all sorts of great things
like moving around on the floor;

28
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,496
they go into our gardens
and they eat our crops;

29
00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:32,776
they climb trees;

30
00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:35,016
they go in water, they come out of water;

31
00:01:35,040 --> 00:01:37,616
they trap insects and digest them.

32
00:01:37,640 --> 00:01:39,456
So they do really interesting things.

33
00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,856
They live, they breathe, they die,

34
00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:44,696
they eat things from the environment.

35
00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:47,296
Our current robots don't really do that.

36
00:01:47,320 --> 00:01:48,536
Now, wouldn't it be great

37
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,216
if you could use some of those
characteristics in future robots

38
00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:54,936
so that you could solve
some really interesting problems?

39
00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:58,016
I'm going to look at a couple of problems
now in the environment

40
00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:00,776
where we can use
the skills and the technologies

41
00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,816
derived from these animals

42
00:02:02,840 --> 00:02:04,376
and from the plants,

43
00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:06,496
and we can use them
to solve those problems.

44
00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:08,880
Let's have a look
at two environmental problems.

45
00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:11,015
They're both of our making --

46
00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:13,496
this is man interacting
with the environment

47
00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:15,896
and doing some rather unpleasant things.

48
00:02:15,920 --> 00:02:19,560
The first one is to do
with the pressure of population.

49
00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,496
Such is the pressure
of population around the world

50
00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:26,656
that agriculture and farming is required
to produce more and more crops.

51
00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:27,896
Now, to do that,

52
00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:30,296
farmers put more and more
chemicals onto the land.

53
00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:33,456
They put on fertilizers,
nitrates, pesticides --

54
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:36,856
all sorts of things
that encourage the growth of the crops,

55
00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:39,016
but there are some negative impacts.

56
00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:42,496
One of the negative impacts is
if you put lots of fertilizer on the land,

57
00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,936
not all of it goes into the crops.

58
00:02:44,960 --> 00:02:47,536
Lots of it stays in the soil,

59
00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:49,016
and then when it rains,

60
00:02:49,040 --> 00:02:51,536
these chemicals go into the water table.

61
00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:52,816
And in the water table,

62
00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:56,336
then they go into streams,
into lakes, into rivers

63
00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:57,560
and into the sea.

64
00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:00,656
Now, if you put all
of these chemicals, these nitrates,

65
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:02,296
into those kinds of environments,

66
00:03:02,320 --> 00:03:06,096
there are organisms in those environments
that will be affected by that --

67
00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:07,736
algae, for example.

68
00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:10,296
Algae loves nitrates, it loves fertilizer,

69
00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:12,416
so it will take in all these chemicals,

70
00:03:12,440 --> 00:03:15,376
and if the conditions are right,
it will mass produce.

71
00:03:15,400 --> 00:03:17,656
It will produce masses
and masses of new algae.

72
00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:19,216
That's called a bloom.

73
00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,416
The trouble is that
when algae reproduces like this,

74
00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:24,680
it starves the water of oxygen.

75
00:03:25,120 --> 00:03:26,376
As soon as you do that,

76
00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,320
the other organisms
in the water can't survive.

77
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:31,736
So, what do we do?

78
00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,776
We try to produce a robot
that will eat the algae,

79
00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:37,649
consume it and make it safe.

80
00:03:37,673 --> 00:03:39,379
Now, this is such a big problem

81
00:03:39,403 --> 00:03:41,236
that, you can see in the slide here,

82
00:03:41,260 --> 00:03:44,244
there's an algal bloom
off the coast of Cornwall,

83
00:03:44,268 --> 00:03:45,435
in 1999.

84
00:03:45,459 --> 00:03:47,525
It was 50 kilometers in length.

85
00:03:47,633 --> 00:03:48,895
This is a massive problem

86
00:03:48,919 --> 00:03:52,356
that is going to have an impact
on fisheries, shellfish and so on.

87
00:03:52,380 --> 00:03:53,740
So that's the first problem.

88
00:03:54,300 --> 00:03:56,796
The second problem is also of our making,

89
00:03:56,820 --> 00:03:58,700
and it's to do with oil pollution.

90
00:03:59,140 --> 00:04:02,876
Now, oil comes out
of the engines that we use,

91
00:04:02,900 --> 00:04:04,236
the boats that we use.

92
00:04:04,260 --> 00:04:07,316
Sometimes tankers
flush their oil tanks into the sea,

93
00:04:07,340 --> 00:04:09,596
so oil is released into the sea that way.

94
00:04:09,872 --> 00:04:12,467
Also, there are some
disasters that occur --

95
00:04:12,491 --> 00:04:15,157
pipeline disasters, oil field disasters.

96
00:04:15,459 --> 00:04:19,736
And here is the Deepwater
Horizon oil spill from 2010.

97
00:04:19,856 --> 00:04:23,705
And from the satellite image,
you can see a massive oil spill.

98
00:04:23,864 --> 00:04:27,379
That has a devastating impact
on the environment,

99
00:04:27,403 --> 00:04:30,760
on the birds, on the fish,
and on the coastline.

100
00:04:31,370 --> 00:04:33,946
Wouldn't it be nice
if we could treat that in some way

101
00:04:33,970 --> 00:04:38,690
using robots that could eat the pollution
the oil fields have produced?

102
00:04:39,250 --> 00:04:40,866
So that's what we do.

103
00:04:40,890 --> 00:04:43,490
We make robots that will eat pollution.

104
00:04:43,970 --> 00:04:45,306
To actually make the robot,

105
00:04:45,330 --> 00:04:47,530
we take inspiration from two organisms.

106
00:04:48,370 --> 00:04:50,506
On the right there
you see the basking shark.

107
00:04:50,530 --> 00:04:53,066
The basking shark is a massive shark.

108
00:04:53,090 --> 00:04:55,666
It's noncarnivorous,
so you can swim with it,

109
00:04:55,690 --> 00:04:57,146
as you can see.

110
00:04:57,170 --> 00:04:59,026
And the basking shark opens its mouth,

111
00:04:59,050 --> 00:05:01,890
and it swims through the water,
collecting plankton.

112
00:05:02,970 --> 00:05:05,186
As it does that, it digests the food,

113
00:05:05,210 --> 00:05:08,730
and then it uses that energy
in its body to keep moving.

114
00:05:09,490 --> 00:05:11,346
So, could we make a robot like that --

115
00:05:11,370 --> 00:05:13,906
like the basking shark
that chugs through the water

116
00:05:13,930 --> 00:05:15,290
and eats up pollution?

117
00:05:16,250 --> 00:05:17,986
Well, let's see if we can do that.

118
00:05:18,010 --> 00:05:21,066
But also, we take the inspiration
from other organisms.

119
00:05:21,090 --> 00:05:23,146
I've got a picture here
of a water boatman,

120
00:05:23,170 --> 00:05:24,986
and the water boatman is really cute.

121
00:05:25,010 --> 00:05:26,586
When it's swimming in the water,

122
00:05:26,610 --> 00:05:29,090
it uses its paddle-like legs
to push itself forward.

123
00:05:29,690 --> 00:05:31,706
So we take those two organisms

124
00:05:31,730 --> 00:05:34,730
and we combine them together
to make a new kind of robot.

125
00:05:35,410 --> 00:05:38,586
In fact, because we're using
the water boatman as inspiration,

126
00:05:38,610 --> 00:05:41,386
and our robot sits on top of the water,

127
00:05:41,410 --> 00:05:42,666
and it rows,

128
00:05:42,690 --> 00:05:44,906
we call it the "Row-bot."

129
00:05:44,930 --> 00:05:48,786
So a Row-bot is a robot that rows.

130
00:05:48,810 --> 00:05:51,506
OK. So what does it look like?

131
00:05:51,530 --> 00:05:53,266
Here's some pictures of the Row-bot,

132
00:05:53,290 --> 00:05:54,506
and you'll see,

133
00:05:54,530 --> 00:05:57,866
it doesn't look anything like the robots
we saw right at the beginning.

134
00:05:57,890 --> 00:06:00,026
Google is wrong;
robots don't look like that,

135
00:06:00,050 --> 00:06:01,266
they look like this.

136
00:06:01,290 --> 00:06:03,066
So I've got the Row-bot here.

137
00:06:03,090 --> 00:06:04,506
I'll just hold it up for you.

138
00:06:04,530 --> 00:06:06,186
It gives you a sense of the scale,

139
00:06:06,210 --> 00:06:08,346
and it doesn't look
anything like the others.

140
00:06:08,370 --> 00:06:09,986
OK, so it's made out of plastic,

141
00:06:10,010 --> 00:06:12,066
and we'll have a look now
at the components

142
00:06:12,090 --> 00:06:13,406
that make up the Row-bot --

143
00:06:13,430 --> 00:06:14,811
what makes it really special.

144
00:06:15,850 --> 00:06:18,666
The Row-bot is made up of three parts,

145
00:06:18,690 --> 00:06:21,986
and those three parts are really
like the parts of any organism.

146
00:06:22,010 --> 00:06:23,666
It's got a brain,

147
00:06:23,690 --> 00:06:25,066
it's got a body

148
00:06:25,090 --> 00:06:27,386
and it's got a stomach.

149
00:06:27,410 --> 00:06:29,826
It needs the stomach to create the energy.

150
00:06:29,850 --> 00:06:32,066
Any Row-bot will have
those three components,

151
00:06:32,090 --> 00:06:34,466
and any organism
will have those three components,

152
00:06:34,490 --> 00:06:36,386
so let's go through them one at a time.

153
00:06:36,410 --> 00:06:37,666
It has a body,

154
00:06:37,690 --> 00:06:39,466
and its body is made out of plastic,

155
00:06:39,490 --> 00:06:41,706
and it sits on top of the water.

156
00:06:41,730 --> 00:06:44,666
And it's got flippers on the side here --

157
00:06:44,690 --> 00:06:46,186
paddles that help it move,

158
00:06:46,210 --> 00:06:47,570
just like the water boatman.

159
00:06:48,290 --> 00:06:49,626
It's got a plastic body,

160
00:06:49,650 --> 00:06:52,506
but it's got a soft rubber mouth here,

161
00:06:52,530 --> 00:06:54,435
and a mouth here -- it's got two mouths.

162
00:06:54,459 --> 00:06:55,866
Why does it have two mouths?

163
00:06:55,890 --> 00:06:57,706
One is to let the food go in

164
00:06:57,730 --> 00:06:59,666
and the other is to let the food go out.

165
00:06:59,690 --> 00:07:03,186
So you can see really
it's got a mouth and a derriere,

166
00:07:03,210 --> 00:07:04,426
or a --

167
00:07:04,450 --> 00:07:05,466
(Laughter)

168
00:07:05,490 --> 00:07:07,226
something where the stuff comes out,

169
00:07:07,250 --> 00:07:08,946
which is just like a real organism.

170
00:07:08,970 --> 00:07:11,786
So it's starting to look
like that basking shark.

171
00:07:11,810 --> 00:07:13,186
So that's the body.

172
00:07:13,210 --> 00:07:16,346
The second component might be the stomach.

173
00:07:16,370 --> 00:07:20,266
We need to get the energy into the robot
and we need to treat the pollution,

174
00:07:20,290 --> 00:07:21,826
so the pollution goes in,

175
00:07:21,850 --> 00:07:23,346
and it will do something.

176
00:07:23,370 --> 00:07:26,946
It's got a cell in the middle here
called a microbial fuel cell.

177
00:07:26,970 --> 00:07:29,730
I'll put this down,
and I'll lift up the fuel cell.

178
00:07:30,290 --> 00:07:32,146
Here. So instead of having batteries,

179
00:07:32,170 --> 00:07:34,346
instead of having
a conventional power system,

180
00:07:34,370 --> 00:07:35,626
it's got one of these.

181
00:07:35,650 --> 00:07:36,906
This is its stomach.

182
00:07:36,930 --> 00:07:38,186
And it really is a stomach

183
00:07:38,210 --> 00:07:41,626
because you can put energy in this side
in the form of pollution,

184
00:07:41,650 --> 00:07:43,306
and it creates electricity.

185
00:07:43,330 --> 00:07:44,546
So what is it?

186
00:07:44,570 --> 00:07:46,226
It's called a microbial fuel cell.

187
00:07:46,250 --> 00:07:48,346
It's a little bit
like a chemical fuel cell,

188
00:07:48,370 --> 00:07:50,386
which you might have
come across in school,

189
00:07:50,410 --> 00:07:52,026
or you might've seen in the news.

190
00:07:52,050 --> 00:07:54,186
Chemical fuel cells
take hydrogen and oxygen,

191
00:07:54,210 --> 00:07:57,026
and they can combine them together
and you get electricity.

192
00:07:57,050 --> 00:08:00,466
That's well-established technology;
it was in the Apollo space missions.

193
00:08:00,490 --> 00:08:01,970
That's from 40, 50 years ago.

194
00:08:02,530 --> 00:08:03,786
This is slightly newer.

195
00:08:03,810 --> 00:08:05,266
This is a microbial fuel cell.

196
00:08:05,290 --> 00:08:06,546
It's the same principle:

197
00:08:06,570 --> 00:08:07,986
it's got oxygen on one side,

198
00:08:08,010 --> 00:08:10,106
but instead of having
hydrogen on the other,

199
00:08:10,130 --> 00:08:11,426
it's got some soup,

200
00:08:11,450 --> 00:08:14,266
and inside that soup
there are living microbes.

201
00:08:14,290 --> 00:08:16,986
Now, if you take some organic material --

202
00:08:17,010 --> 00:08:19,346
could be some waste products, some food,

203
00:08:19,370 --> 00:08:20,866
maybe a bit of your sandwich --

204
00:08:20,890 --> 00:08:23,706
you put it in there,
the microbes will eat that food,

205
00:08:23,730 --> 00:08:25,610
and they will turn it into electricity.

206
00:08:26,490 --> 00:08:29,986
Not only that, but if you select
the right kind of microbes,

207
00:08:30,010 --> 00:08:33,770
you can use the microbial fuel cell
to treat some of the pollution.

208
00:08:34,490 --> 00:08:36,106
If you choose the right microbes,

209
00:08:36,130 --> 00:08:38,746
the microbes will eat the algae.

210
00:08:38,770 --> 00:08:41,106
If you use other kinds of microbes,

211
00:08:41,130 --> 00:08:44,650
they will eat petroleum
spirits and crude oil.

212
00:08:45,050 --> 00:08:47,746
So you can see
how this stomach could be used

213
00:08:47,770 --> 00:08:51,026
to not only treat the pollution

214
00:08:51,050 --> 00:08:53,850
but also to generate electricity
from the pollution.

215
00:08:54,490 --> 00:08:57,266
So the robot will move
through the environment,

216
00:08:57,290 --> 00:08:59,386
taking food into its stomach,

217
00:08:59,410 --> 00:09:01,906
digest the food, create electricity,

218
00:09:01,930 --> 00:09:04,426
use that electricity
to move through the environment

219
00:09:04,450 --> 00:09:05,666
and keep doing this.

220
00:09:05,690 --> 00:09:09,226
OK, so let's see what happens
when we run the Row-bot --

221
00:09:09,250 --> 00:09:10,626
when it does some rowing.

222
00:09:10,650 --> 00:09:12,306
Here we've got a couple of videos,

223
00:09:12,330 --> 00:09:14,986
the first thing you'll see --
hopefully you can see here

224
00:09:15,010 --> 00:09:16,306
is the mouth open.

225
00:09:16,330 --> 00:09:19,346
The front mouth and the bottom mouth open,

226
00:09:19,370 --> 00:09:20,906
and it will stay opened enough,

227
00:09:20,930 --> 00:09:22,946
then the robot will start to row forward.

228
00:09:22,970 --> 00:09:24,226
It moves through the water

229
00:09:24,250 --> 00:09:27,346
so that food goes in
as the waste products go out.

230
00:09:27,370 --> 00:09:28,626
Once it's moved enough,

231
00:09:28,650 --> 00:09:31,586
it stops and then it closes the mouth --

232
00:09:31,610 --> 00:09:34,026
slowly closes the mouths --

233
00:09:34,050 --> 00:09:35,706
and then it will sit there,

234
00:09:35,730 --> 00:09:37,370
and it will digest the food.

235
00:09:38,090 --> 00:09:40,786
Of course these microbial fuel cells,

236
00:09:40,810 --> 00:09:42,066
they contain microbes.

237
00:09:42,090 --> 00:09:43,946
What you really want is lots of energy

238
00:09:43,970 --> 00:09:46,586
coming out of those microbes
as quickly as possible.

239
00:09:46,610 --> 00:09:48,186
But we can't force the microbes

240
00:09:48,210 --> 00:09:51,226
and they generate a small amount
of electricity per second.

241
00:09:51,250 --> 00:09:54,506
They generate milliwatts, or microwatts.

242
00:09:54,530 --> 00:09:56,386
Let's put that into context.

243
00:09:56,410 --> 00:09:57,946
Your mobile phone for example,

244
00:09:57,970 --> 00:09:59,346
one of these modern ones,

245
00:09:59,370 --> 00:10:01,586
if you use it, it takes about one watt.

246
00:10:01,610 --> 00:10:05,426
So that's a thousand or a million times
as much energy that that uses

247
00:10:05,450 --> 00:10:07,410
compared to the microbial fuel cell.

248
00:10:08,090 --> 00:10:09,666
How can we cope with that?

249
00:10:09,690 --> 00:10:12,546
Well, when the Row-bot
has done its digestion,

250
00:10:12,570 --> 00:10:14,026
when it's taken the food in,

251
00:10:14,050 --> 00:10:17,586
it will sit there and it will wait
until it has consumed all that food.

252
00:10:17,610 --> 00:10:20,826
That could take some hours,
it could take some days.

253
00:10:20,850 --> 00:10:24,546
A typical cycle for the Row-bot
looks like this:

254
00:10:24,570 --> 00:10:25,826
you open your mouth,

255
00:10:25,850 --> 00:10:27,106
you move,

256
00:10:27,130 --> 00:10:28,386
you close your mouth

257
00:10:28,410 --> 00:10:30,266
and you sit there for a while waiting.

258
00:10:30,290 --> 00:10:31,666
Once you digest your food,

259
00:10:31,690 --> 00:10:34,506
then you can go about
doing the same thing again.

260
00:10:34,530 --> 00:10:37,506
But you know what, that looks
like a real organism, doesn't it?

261
00:10:37,530 --> 00:10:39,386
It looks like the kind of thing we do.

262
00:10:39,410 --> 00:10:41,466
Saturday night,
we go out, open our mouths,

263
00:10:41,490 --> 00:10:43,026
fill our stomachs,

264
00:10:43,050 --> 00:10:45,986
sit in front of the telly and digest.

265
00:10:46,010 --> 00:10:48,386
When we've had enough,
we do the same thing again.

266
00:10:48,410 --> 00:10:51,266
OK, if we're lucky with this cycle,

267
00:10:51,290 --> 00:10:54,826
at the end of the cycle
we'll have enough energy left over

268
00:10:54,850 --> 00:10:56,986
for us to be able to do something else.

269
00:10:57,010 --> 00:10:59,026
We could send a message, for example.

270
00:10:59,050 --> 00:11:00,546
We could send a message saying,

271
00:11:00,570 --> 00:11:02,906
"This is how much pollution
I've eaten recently,"

272
00:11:02,930 --> 00:11:05,506
or, "This is the kind of stuff
that I've encountered,"

273
00:11:05,530 --> 00:11:07,210
or, "This is where I am."

274
00:11:07,890 --> 00:11:11,146
That ability to send a message
saying, "This is where I am,"

275
00:11:11,170 --> 00:11:13,106
is really, really important.

276
00:11:13,130 --> 00:11:15,626
If you think about the oil slicks
that we saw before,

277
00:11:15,650 --> 00:11:17,106
or those massive algal blooms,

278
00:11:17,130 --> 00:11:19,826
what you really want to do
is put your Row-bot out there,

279
00:11:19,850 --> 00:11:21,826
and it eats up all of those pollutions,

280
00:11:21,850 --> 00:11:24,026
and then you have to go collect them.

281
00:11:24,050 --> 00:11:25,266
Why?

282
00:11:25,290 --> 00:11:27,106
Because these Row-bots at the moment,

283
00:11:27,130 --> 00:11:28,466
this Row-bot I've got here,

284
00:11:28,490 --> 00:11:30,346
it contains motors, it contains wires,

285
00:11:30,370 --> 00:11:33,826
it contains components
which themselves are not biodegradable.

286
00:11:33,850 --> 00:11:36,586
Current Row-bots contain
things like toxic batteries.

287
00:11:36,610 --> 00:11:38,586
You can't leave those in the environment,

288
00:11:38,610 --> 00:11:40,106
so you need to track them,

289
00:11:40,130 --> 00:11:42,466
and then when they've finished
their job of work,

290
00:11:42,490 --> 00:11:43,746
you need to collect them.

291
00:11:43,770 --> 00:11:46,106
That limits the number
of Row-bots you can use.

292
00:11:46,130 --> 00:11:47,386
If, on the other hand,

293
00:11:47,410 --> 00:11:50,546
you have robot a little bit
like a biological organism,

294
00:11:50,570 --> 00:11:52,666
when it comes to the end of its life,

295
00:11:52,690 --> 00:11:55,146
it dies and it degrades to nothing.

296
00:11:55,170 --> 00:11:57,506
So wouldn't it be nice if these robots,

297
00:11:57,530 --> 00:11:59,769
instead of being like this,
made out of plastic,

298
00:11:59,793 --> 00:12:01,386
were made out of other materials,

299
00:12:01,410 --> 00:12:03,146
which when you throw them out there,

300
00:12:03,170 --> 00:12:04,506
they biodegrade to nothing?

301
00:12:04,530 --> 00:12:06,626
That changes the way
in which we use robots.

302
00:12:06,650 --> 00:12:10,026
Instead of putting 10 or 100
out into the environment,

303
00:12:10,050 --> 00:12:11,306
having to track them,

304
00:12:11,330 --> 00:12:12,666
and then when they die,

305
00:12:12,690 --> 00:12:13,906
collect them,

306
00:12:13,930 --> 00:12:15,626
you could put a thousand,

307
00:12:15,650 --> 00:12:18,386
a million, a billion robots
into the environment.

308
00:12:18,410 --> 00:12:20,226
Just spread them around.

309
00:12:20,250 --> 00:12:23,870
You know that at the end of their lives,
they're going to degrade to nothing.

310
00:12:23,894 --> 00:12:25,586
You don't need to worry about them.

311
00:12:25,610 --> 00:12:28,226
So that changes the way
in which you think about robots

312
00:12:28,250 --> 00:12:29,626
and the way you deploy them.

313
00:12:29,650 --> 00:12:31,506
Then the question is: Can you do this?

314
00:12:31,530 --> 00:12:33,706
Well, yes, we have shown
that you can do this.

315
00:12:33,730 --> 00:12:35,826
You can make robots
which are biodegradable.

316
00:12:35,850 --> 00:12:38,706
What's really interesting
is you can use household materials

317
00:12:38,730 --> 00:12:40,426
to make these biodegradable robots.

318
00:12:40,450 --> 00:12:43,026
I'll show you some;
you might be surprised.

319
00:12:43,750 --> 00:12:46,646
You can make a robot out of jelly.

320
00:12:46,670 --> 00:12:49,446
Instead of having a motor,
which we have at the moment,

321
00:12:49,470 --> 00:12:51,926
you can make things
called artificial muscles.

322
00:12:51,950 --> 00:12:54,246
Artificial muscles are smart materials,

323
00:12:54,270 --> 00:12:55,726
you apply electricity to them,

324
00:12:55,750 --> 00:12:57,926
and they contract,
or they bend or they twist.

325
00:12:57,950 --> 00:13:00,166
They look like real muscles.

326
00:13:00,190 --> 00:13:03,190
So instead of having a motor,
you have these artificial muscles.

327
00:13:03,214 --> 00:13:06,046
And you can make
artificial muscles out of jelly.

328
00:13:06,070 --> 00:13:08,006
If you take some jelly and some salts,

329
00:13:08,030 --> 00:13:09,606
and do a bit of jiggery-pokery,

330
00:13:09,630 --> 00:13:11,423
you can make an artificial muscle.

331
00:13:11,447 --> 00:13:14,066
You can do the same thing
with natural rubber, latex.

332
00:13:14,741 --> 00:13:17,352
So you could make a robot
out of a balloon.

333
00:13:17,376 --> 00:13:19,773
You can make a robot
out of a rubber glove.

334
00:13:19,797 --> 00:13:21,995
You can even make a robot out of paper.

335
00:13:22,019 --> 00:13:25,114
You can make actuators,
that is, things that move,

336
00:13:25,138 --> 00:13:27,266
with electricity, out of paper.

337
00:13:27,290 --> 00:13:30,866
We've also shown you can make
the microbial fuel cell's stomach

338
00:13:30,890 --> 00:13:32,306
out of paper.

339
00:13:32,330 --> 00:13:35,810
So you could make the whole
robot out of biodegradable materials.

340
00:13:36,130 --> 00:13:39,010
You throw them out there,
and they degrade to nothing.

341
00:13:40,250 --> 00:13:42,106
Well, this is really, really exciting.

342
00:13:42,130 --> 00:13:45,321
It's going to totally change the way
in which we think about robots,

343
00:13:45,345 --> 00:13:47,586
but also it allows you
to be really creative

344
00:13:47,610 --> 00:13:50,946
in the way in which you think
about what you can do with these robots.

345
00:13:50,970 --> 00:13:52,226
I'll give you an example.

346
00:13:52,250 --> 00:13:54,826
If you can use jelly to make a robot --

347
00:13:54,850 --> 00:13:56,746
now, we eat jelly, right?

348
00:13:56,770 --> 00:13:59,266
So, why not make something like this?

349
00:13:59,290 --> 00:14:00,690
A robot gummy bear.

350
00:14:01,770 --> 00:14:04,546
Here, I've got some I prepared earlier.

351
00:14:04,570 --> 00:14:06,170
There we go. I've got a packet --

352
00:14:07,210 --> 00:14:09,090
and I've got a lemon-flavored one.

353
00:14:10,250 --> 00:14:12,986
I'll take this gummy bear --
he's not robotic, OK?

354
00:14:13,010 --> 00:14:14,226
We have to pretend.

355
00:14:14,250 --> 00:14:17,266
And what you do with one of these
is you put it in your mouth --

356
00:14:17,290 --> 00:14:18,530
the lemon's quite nice.

357
00:14:19,370 --> 00:14:22,275
Try not to chew it too much,
it's a robot, it may not like it.

358
00:14:23,490 --> 00:14:25,706
And then you swallow it.

359
00:14:25,730 --> 00:14:27,426
And then it goes into your stomach.

360
00:14:27,450 --> 00:14:31,266
And when it's inside your stomach,
it moves, it thinks, it twists, it bends,

361
00:14:31,290 --> 00:14:32,506
it does something.

362
00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:34,706
It could go further down
into your intestines,

363
00:14:34,730 --> 00:14:37,066
find out whether you've got
some ulcer or cancer,

364
00:14:37,090 --> 00:14:39,186
maybe do an injection,
something like that.

365
00:14:39,210 --> 00:14:42,066
You know that once
it's done its job of work,

366
00:14:42,090 --> 00:14:44,306
it could be consumed by your stomach,

367
00:14:44,330 --> 00:14:46,026
or if you don't want that,

368
00:14:46,050 --> 00:14:47,666
it could go straight through you,

369
00:14:47,690 --> 00:14:48,906
into the toilet,

370
00:14:48,930 --> 00:14:51,146
and be degraded safely in the environment.

371
00:14:51,170 --> 00:14:54,410
So this changes the way, again,
in which we think about robots.

372
00:14:55,370 --> 00:14:59,666
So, we started off looking
at robots that would eat pollution,

373
00:14:59,690 --> 00:15:02,346
and then we're looking
at robots which we can eat.

374
00:15:02,370 --> 00:15:04,026
I hope this gives you some idea

375
00:15:04,050 --> 00:15:06,490
of the kinds of things
we can do with future robots.

376
00:15:08,210 --> 00:15:10,106
Thank you very much for your attention.

377
00:15:10,130 --> 00:15:13,613
(Applause)