The EcoBot III, the result of a partnership between Wessex Water and the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England, is a human-waste powered robot that can clean wasterwater. Running on the same wastewater that it cleans, the eco friendly machine consists of a microbial fuel cell that produces electricity from organic waste in wastewater. The project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
The developers claim that the technology could eliminate the need for electricity in the process of wastewater and sewage treatment. The self-sufficient machine weighs about 6kg and come with systems for ingestion, artificial digestion and solid waste excretion. While the technology is currently in its infancy, it could readily be applied in remote areas where the robot can run off organic waste.