The Pentagon gets a new Robo-Crop

It’s been 22 years since crime-fighting Robocop cleaned up the dirty Detroit streets. Now a new ‘greener’ robot has entered the scene.

A steam-powered, robot designed for the Pentagon, headquarters of the US Department of Defense, has been programmed to fuel itself on biomass.

Maryland-based Robotic Technology’s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR) can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment.

The flex-fuel engine can also feed on a variety of conventional or unconventional fuels in addition to biomass.

‘It can run on diesel and propane when biomass is not available on barren desert, or the operation does not allow any time for EATR to stop to forage,’ Bob Finkelstein, president of Robotic Technology, says.

‘We can supplement biomass with other fuel types such as solar to trickle into the batteries and help provide sufficient electricity for housekeeping functions.’

The system is under research and development with initial proof of concept scheduled for demonstration in April 2010.

Cyclone Power was commissioned to design a biomass combustion chamber which burns fuel to heat up water to generate electricity.

Rest assured, the company says, this robot does not see humans on the menu.