Luigi is a new prototype robot from MIT designed to go where humans would rather not - into the sewers for fecal samples.
(Luigi The Sewer Inspection Robot From MIT video)
By sampling and interpreting human waste, scientists can monitor urban health patterns, as well as monitor diabetes, analyze drug usage, and identify antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
"We all flush valuable health data down the toilet," explains Eric Alm, co-principal investigator of Underworlds and director of the Alm Lab. "Sewers represent a unique opportunity where health data from everybody in a community is pooled together."
The biomarkers in human waste can also provide insight into infectious diseases -- such as new flu strains -- eventually enabling scientists to anticipate and mitigate outbreaks...
Measuring 3 feet long and 3 inches in diameter, Luigi comes equipped with a motor, pump and and filter.
The Luigi sewer inspection robot from MIT might just be the remote ancestor of the duct-diving robotic Sentinel of the Matrix movies. In the movies, the Sentinels restlessly search the ductwork underlying the Matrix infrastructure, searching for unwanted elements skulking therein (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, et al).
Tactile Skin Supplier Map
'What strange sensitivity! What an amazing development of science was manifested in every move and act and word of this Robot!' - Ray Cummings, 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.
'Old People Began to Cross The Continent In Their Own Cars'
'It was a relief to enter one of the comfortable autos, whisper a direction down the tube, and just know that you would be taken to your destination in the quickest, safest, and cheapest manner.'
Starfall Manufacturing Drugs In Space
'The vast spinning sphere of Factory in the Sky loomed above and ahead of us, gleaming white against the unfathomable jet depths of surrounding space.'
The Solar Oberth Slingshot
'And if it doesn’t work,' inquired Lazarus, 'what does that make us? Sunspots?'
'If Anyone Is Watching Earth...'
'Our study of your race has convinced us that you are not fitted to leave your planet in the present state of your civilization.'