Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #13257
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: BUDSCOTT@aol.com BUDSCOTT@aol.com
Date: Sunday, April 09, 2000 11:58 AM
Subject: Re: WCRG? (plus info on WCRG events)
the only problem is what happens to our drinking water
>In a message dated 4/8/00 8:37:49 PM Central Daylight Time, ace27@icdc.com
>writes:
>
><< A robot that is capable of feeding on it's environmental constants
is
> intriguing.
> Solar robots take advantage of the large supply of light provided by the
sun
> (or some other electrical means).
> However the sun doesn't shine all day (unless you live extremely north or
> south, and I doubt the amount of light that reaches those extreme regions
is
> enough to power a bot). So is it possible to create a robot to feed off
of
> it's environment. Water is oxygen and two parts of hydrogen, one of the
> most powerful elements. It is possible to turn water into it's basic
> elements. The process is called hydrolysis. I've seen it done
chemically,
> and I think it is possible to do it through electrical means. Now all we
> need is a way to convert hydrogen or oxygen into electricity, or some
other
> usable form of power. I'm sure if someone could either burn the hydrogen
> (remember we also made oxygen with our little reaction) or use some sort
of
> fusion reaction (now it sounds somewhat like science fiction) a water
> eating robot would be possible. The most feasible method is to make some
> heat. (burn some hydrogen) We would then combine that heat with water and
> make some steam, and through some clever mechanics. Convert that steam
into
> electricity. Now we have a true aquavore! Only problem I see is the size
> of this little endeavor. Plus I'm not sure exactly what's involved with
> hydrolysis. I was rather young when I read an experiment for converting
> water into it's basic elements. I vaguely remember two metal rods and
some
> water. You probably need to mix some electrolyte in with the process.
I'm
> sure it's on the net somewhere.
> So who wants to take a crack at building one of these :)
> >>
>
>If somebody did this, cars could run on water, gas prices would go down,
>hmm...YEAH! SOMEBODY DO IT!
>
>
>P.S. Sorry about my over complaining on gas prices, this doesn't not
reflect
>my views as a person on OPEC or Mobil or Citgo or Shell or Amaco. sorry
>
> -Spencer
>
><http://www.botic.com/users/beamstop>
>
>not a robot scientist
>not a college major
>not a grad student
>not a professor
>not a very organized person
>just Spencer (isn't that impressive enough?)
>
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