This is it. Batteries were the last shackle. Now that the robots can potentially produce their own power by devouring insects, all those cliches and overused internet memes about robot overlords are finally going to come true.
The enabler’s name is Mohsen Shahinpoor (roughly translates to “the Creator” in robo-tongue), who said in an article over at New Scientist that his artificial Venus flytrap contraption is essentially the same as the one created by nature and evolution. Tiny sensor “hairs” in the mouth area trigger a current which slams the two halves together, effectively trapping the bug.
While this version doesn’t eat the bug, there are apparently technologies already in place that digest organic matter and covert it to energy. This was news to me, but having seen the things I’ve seen working here at Gizmodo, nothing in the science or tech space really surprises me anymore.
Combine the two and you have a robot that creates its own energy by eating the living. Nothing creepy about that at all. [New Scientist via DVICE]