Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Solar Nomad Plant A Robotic Urban Parasite
Mexican artist Gilberto Esparza has created a series of robot sculptures he calls Robotic Urban Parasites. The robots are created entirely from recycled materials; one of his creations takes power from electrical wires and reacts to light sources as well as noises and cell phone signals. It was inspired by Mexico City street vendors who parasitize power from nearby electric power poles to juice their roadside stalls.
Another creation is the Solar Nomad Plant. This is a plant carried in a mobile cart toward available sunlight. The robotic cart apparently feeds off the energy created by decaying bacteria in the polluted water that in turn nourishes the plant.
Take a look at the Robotic Urban Parasites video below.
(Robotic Urban Parasites video by Gilberto Esparza)
Esparza's works was shown at the Contemporary Art Museum of the Autonomous National University of Mexico.
Curator, Alejandra Lavastida says she admires the Urban Parasite series because it has different levels of meaning."The urban parasites are about the technology invasion. says Esparza, "I made them thinking about all these technology devices that seem to be programmed to last only for a certain time."
Esparza's work has been shown in several countries including Brazil, Peru, Canada, Mexico, and Bolivia.
The Solar Nomad Plant robotic cart reminds me of the skrodes, special carts created for an otherwise immobile race in Vernor Vinge's 1992 novel A Fire Upon the Deep.
Via Ebru News.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 9/3/2009)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 1 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Hotels Turn To Robots As Human Workers Regroup
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.' - Harry Harrison, 1970.
Physiotherapists Get Help From Robots
'Most of the Members went into cold-rest; the others tended them...' - Robert Heinlein, 1941.
Tentacle Robot Gripper Recalls War Of The Worlds
'It presented a sort of metallic spider with five jointed, agile legs, and with an extraordinary number of jointed levers, bars, and reaching and clutching tentacles.' - HG Wells, 1898.
Four-Legged Robot With Magnetized Feet Climbs Walls
'... his magnetic boots which served to hold him to the steel floor.' - Raymond Z. Gallun, 1931.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Eviation Alice Electric Plane First Flight
'A white electric plane approached at great speed...'
Hotels Turn To Robots As Human Workers Regroup
'Chain of hotels that specialized in non-human service.'
Changesite Mineral To Be Mined On Moon By China
'But then... not every bulldozer operator works on the Moon.'
Tongue-Controlled Tong Wearable Mouth Computer
'Griff found the white and pink map distracting and switched it off using his tongue mouse.'
Is It Better To Be Short?
'He was one of the smaller, energy-saving new breed...'
Taikonaut Tai Chi Foot Loops
'Jimmy Cardigan and Harlowe, staring through the darkside port, had their feet in the foot-loops...'
Space Billboards Would Ruin Our View Of The Cosmos
'But the rising sign, as it had been designed to do, held his eyes. A vast circle of scarlet stars came up into the greenish desert dusk.'
Orion's 'Skip-to-M'Lou' Entry
'A lightning pilot possibly could land that tin toy without power and still walk away from it provided he had the skill to play Skip-to-M’Lou in and out of the atmosphere...'
MarsCat and MetaCat, Your Robot Cat Companions
'It was you who betrayed me — you and your robot cat.'
Mars Mission Using Nuclear Thermal Propulsion
'with its atomic engine as noiseless as a dancing sunbeam...'
Physiotherapists Get Help From Robots
'Most of the Members went into cold-rest; the others tended them...'
Robotaxi By Cruise Premieres in Austin, Texas
'... he settled back in a robotaxi and the brilliant lights of the streets flashed past.'
Tentacle Robot Gripper Recalls War Of The Worlds
'It presented a sort of metallic spider with five jointed, agile legs, and with an extraordinary number of jointed levers, bars, and reaching and clutching tentacles.'
The Coming Hell Of ChatGPT Salesbots
'Robot-salesmen were everywhere, gesturing, pleading, shrilling...'
Harmonia Making Generative Audio Tools For Everyone
'A cacophony of stentorious metal sounds.'
Fusion Power Breakthrough?
'The prospect of enough D-N beryllium to make fusion power really cheap...'
