Faina, Andres

Greenman, John

Ieropoulos, Ioannis

Melhuish, Chris

Mendis, A.

Støy, Kasper

Theodosiou, Pavlina

English

Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that convert organic matter into electricity through bacterial digestion and respiration [1]. MFCs, unlike a battery, can generate electricity continuously as long as fuel is supplied. This has made MFCs an attractive alternative source of electricity for low-power robots. Robots are powered via conventional mains or battery means but this is also a bottleneck for wider deployment; it is therefore envisaged that green energy sources could be one way of powering the next generation of truly autonomous robots [2]. MFCs have previously been reported to power mobile robotic systems such as; Gastrobot, the four families of EcoBot (I, II, III and IV) and Row-bot (a floating robot). However, in order for MFCs to be implemented into the next generation of autonomous agents, their power output capability needs to be improved. This was pursued using a liquid handling robot called EvoBot [3], which interacted with MFCs using a feedback loop mechanism. The real-time electrical output of the MFCs was monitored and fed back to the robot, which was triggering the robotic liquid handling head to supply fuel, in the event of underperformance. This self-managed maintenance mechanism that prompted a feeding “on demand” was able to accelerate the maturing process of the MFCs from 30 down to 6 days. Notably, it also increased the power output by almost 40% compared to the output produced by the manually maintained MFCs on the bench (19.1 mWm-2 to 26.5 mWm-2). This experiment showed the potential of using EvoBot as a maintenance machine for optimising MFCs which can then power autonomous robots.<br/

The IT University of Copenhagen's Repository

EvoBot in service: interface and interconnection of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) with a liquid handling robot for optimised performance P. Theodosiou1*, A. Mendis1, A. Faíña2, K. Stoy2, J. Greenman3, C. Melhuish1 and I. Ieropoulos1** 1Bristol BioEnergy Centre, Robotics Laboratory, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK 2Faculty of Heath and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK 3Robots, Evolution, and Art Lab (REAL), IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark *pavlina.theodosiou@brl.ac.uk **ioannis.ieropoulos@brl.ac.uk  Abstract Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that convert organic matter into electricity through bacterial digestion and respiration [1]. MFCs, unlike a battery, can generate electricity continuously as long as fuel is supplied. This has made MFCs an attractive alternative source of electricity for low-power robots. Robots are powered via conventional mains or battery means but this is also a bottleneck for wider deployment; it is therefore envisaged that green energy sources could be one way of powering the next generation of truly autonomous robots [2].  MFCs have previously been reported to power mobile robotic systems such as; Gastrobot, the four families of EcoBot (I, II, III and IV) and Row-bot (a floating robot). However, in order for MFCs to be implemented into the next generation of autonomous agents, their power output capability needs to be improved.  This was pursued using a liquid handling robot called EvoBot [3], which interacted with MFCs using a feedback loop mechanism. The real-time electrical output of the MFCs was monitored and fed back to the robot, which was triggering the robotic liquid handling head to supply fuel, in the event of underperformance. This self-managed maintenance mechanism that prompted a feeding “on demand” was able to accelerate the maturing process of the MFCs from 30 down to 6 days. Notably, it also increased the power output by almost 40% compared to the output produced by the manually maintained MFCs on the bench (19.1 mWm-2 to 26.5 mWm-2). This experiment showed the potential of using EvoBot as a maintenance machine for optimising MFCs which can then power autonomous robots.  1.  Potter M (1911) Electrical Effects Accompanying the Decomposition of Organic Compounds Published by : The Royal Society Electrical Effects accompanying the Decormposition of Organic. Proc R Soc London Ser B, Contain Pap a Biol Character, 84:260–276 2.  Wei Y, Yan Z (2012) Applications of Renewable Energy for Robots. In: Proceedings of the world automation congress. pp 1–3 3.  Faíña A, Nejatimoharrami F, Stoy K, et al (2016) EvoBot : An Open-Source , Modular Liquid Handling Robot for Nurturing Microbial Fuel Cells. In: Proceedings of the Artificial Life Conference 2016. pp 626–633 

EvoBot in service: interface and interconnection of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) with a liquid handling robot for optimised performance

https://pure.itu.dk/portal/files/85152955/ISMET_7_Pavlina_Abstract_iai.pdf

EvoBot in service: interface and interconnection of Microbial Fuel Cells (MFCs) with a liquid handling robot for optimised performance

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