Horsepower - definition (Wikipedia)

Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power (the rate at which work is done). There are many different standards and types of horsepower. The term was adopted in the late 18th century by Scottish engineer James Watt to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses. It was later expanded to include the output power of other types of piston engines, as well as turbines, electric motors and other machinery. The definition of the unit varied between geographical regions. Most countries now use the SI unit watt for measurement of power. With the implementation of the EU Directive 80/181/EEC on January 1, 2010, the use of horsepower in the EU is permitted only as a supplementary unit. more on ... Wikipedia

First sketches

First sketches were made while discussing project in creative coffee meeting

Here are drawn:
- working on bioreactor with animal meat / leftovers which could produce energy: burning Methane gas or some sort of direct electricity output (if it is less than 1V, it could be still used as a switch = when there is energy the robot is living)
- simple toward more complex movement: for simple movement robot is moving on rails (complex construction is already a working bioreactor and a transportation of seperate reactors on and out of robot), cart can also bi moved with two hands/legs or other bipod-wheel movement, last thing and most complicated with all development would be quadropod - this last has possibility for schedule somewhere at the end of 2017

new drawings based on the choice of animal present in bioreactor cell

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Here are a few suggestions for the projects with bioreactors:

Dutch student team to build the world's first car powered by formic acid

The processual sculpture PANCREAS transforms books into sugar (glucose) that feeds human brain cells

Hybrot

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A hybrot (short for "hybrid robot") is a cybernetic organism in the form of a robot controlled by a computer consisting of both electronic and biological elements. The biological elements are typically rat neurons connected to a computer chip.

This feat was first accomplished by Dr. Steve Potter, a professor of biomedical engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology:

“

In his experiment, Potter places a droplet of solution containing thousands of rat neuron cells onto a silicon chip that's embedded with 60 electrodes connected to an amplifier. The electrical signals that the cells fire at one another are picked up by the electrodes which then send the amplified signal into a computer. The computer, in turn, wirelessly relays the data to the robot.

”

“

The robot then manifests this neuronal activity with physical motion, each of its movements a direct result of neurons talking to neurons. And the robot also sends information back to the cells. Equipped with light sensors, the robot receives input about its location in the playpen from infrared signals lining the borders.[1]

”

What separates a hybrot from a cyborg is that the latter term is commonly used to refer to a cybernetically enhanced human or animal; while a hybrot is an entirely new type of creature constructed from organic and artificial materials. It is perhaps helpful to think of the hybrot as "semi-living", a term also used by the hybrot's inventors.^[2]

Another interesting feature of the hybrot is its longevity. Neurons separated from a living brain usually die after only a couple of months. However, due to a specially designed incubator built around a gas-tight culture chamber selectively permeable to carbon dioxide, but impermeable to water vapor, reduces the risk of contamination and evaporation, and may extend the life of the hybrot to one to two years.^[3][4]

Amazing Robot Controlled By Rat Brain Continues Progress

Georgia Tech Researchers Use Lab Cultures To Control Robotic Device

Genius behind all

TED talk

For the start:

Blog Horsepower is internet platform for better communication between artists, scientist and engineers working on the art project Horsepower. In 2015 Otto Urpelainen and Zoran Srdić Janežič worked on art project Corporis Animati where the aim was to create ''pig robot''. Pig robot had three senses while beeing in the gallery space: walking through space (walking in front both wheels, one left or right wheel, and when finding a border going backwards), finding human heads (with pig detector which started rapid turning of lights on and off and pigs nose constructed of electromagnet started to sniff), finding it's own limits when finding white border (seeing through photocells).

In 2016 for the exhibition space of Kapelica Gallery we are lounching a new project: Horsepower. The aims of project follows:
- working on energy supply for robot - bioreactor which should work on rotting horse meat
- movement of horse robot on trails going from point A to point B and B'. B are bioreactors full with energy and B' are used ones. B and B' are defining a special place: figuratively speaking horse graves
- transport of separate bioreactors from stand to robot and back

Byproducst are:
- collaborative feeding of bioreactors
- transmission of energy

Links on project Corporis Animati (2015):
http://gulag.si/portfolio-type/corporis-animati
http://zsj.si/portfolio/corporis-animati/