Scientists create edible battery for a robot that doctors may ask you to eat

A team of scientists have penned a new article in Nature Reviews Materials outlining the challenges of creating an edible robot, and it appears we aren’t necessarily too far away at all.

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Technology developments move in leaps and bounds, making it very hard to predict what the next big thing will be that is mass-adopted. Edible robots may not be at the top of everyone’s prediction list, but they could be for some doctors who are looking to give extremely precise care to a patient through accurate assessment of areas of the body or performing internal general tests.

An edible robot isn’t completely out of the question, and RoboFood researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) explored the idea in a new report that says it doesn’t have all the necessary parts for an edible robot, but some main components have been crossed off the list. For example, the team created a working battery out of food items, which could be used to power an edible robot.

Additionally, an edible gripper was made out of gelatine, conductive ink capable of sensing food growth, gummy bears that can serve as a binder, and sensors that can measure light, bending, and pH levels. As for the battery, which is rechargeable, it uses “riboflavin (vitamin B2) and quercetin (found in almonds and capers) in the battery poles, adding activated carbon to facilitate electron transport and nori algae, used to wrap sushi, to prevent short circuits.“

To protect the battery the team used beeswax, covering the 1.57 inch device that can produce 0.65V. With two of these batteries connected the team is able to power a light-emitting diode for 10 minutes, while also remaining in the “safe” level for voltage being consumed.

Whether humans will actually want to eat robots is another matter entirely.

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