WHEN HUMANITY AND

TECHNOLOGY

C R O SS
DESCRIBE
the different technological
advancement in Philippine society.
DISCUSS
the development of science and
technology in the Philippines.

REFLECT
on how modern electronics are
changing how we relate to the
natural world.

JAN IVAN DE CASTRO

S
Technology
saturates our
lives.

JAN IVAN DE CASTRO

N
Technological
advancement
in the
Philippines.
JAN IVAN DE CASTRO
Robot
s
Robots and artificially intelligent systems will be able to offer us
unique abilities to support and enhance our decision-making,
understanding of situations and ways to act. Robots will be able to
contribute to or autonomously carry out labor. Perhaps robotics will
be fully physically integrated in our human bodies once a number of
challenges are overcome. Also, we will relate to artificial agents as we
do to humans – by communicating with them in natural language,
observing their behaviours and understanding their intentions.
However, in order to sustain a meaningful relationship with
conversations and rituals, which deepen and evolve over time in the
rich context of everyday life, as is the case between people, an
extensive artificial inner life will need to be created. As long as we
replicate or surpass certain functions of human intelligence rather
than the holistic whole of human intelligence placed in the rich
context of our everyday lives, it is unlikely that artificial agents and
people can be totally integrated.
 Robots
plant trees
Climate change startups tend to pick a specific element of environmental harm and solve a problem for it. For Mark
Stewart, CEO of SkyGrow, it’s planting trees. He developed his company to plant more trees than we are cutting down — and
not just in remote forests like the Amazon. The team at SkyGrow developed the Growbot, an unmanned vehicle that plants

Robots
trees 10 times faster than a human can, at about half the cost.
Growbot plants established trees instead of seeds, because established trees have a greater chance of succeeding in
their new location. Stewart and his team plan to manufacture 4,500 Growbots, helping forests recover everywhere.
Robots help
farmers
survive
drought.
As our climate continues to change, it affects our
food sources. This is particularly true in poorer
countries and rural areas that can’t easily import food
from other regions. Using AI sensors and monitors,
robots can track the growth of plants and learn which
species survive  and thrive in harsh conditions. With the
help of this data analysis, farmers can choose plants
that have a greater chance of success, saving their
income while they feed the people around them.
 Robots can
grow like
plants
Researchers at The Plantoid Project  are working to recreate the behavior and functions of plants
to study the natural environment.
They have realized the best way to study the environment is to use the same methods plants use to
filter air, water, and other chemicals that they’re exposed to. The robot plant they have developed even
has a mini 3D printer that helps the roots “grow,” allowing researchers to explore the soil that plants are
exposed to.
Humanoid robots
dive to the
bottom of the
ocean.
The team at Evolving Science recently profiled Ocean
One, a humanoid robot developed by the Stanford Robotics
Lab to explore the ocean and collect samples as effectively as
a diver.
Ocean One was originally developed to monitor deep
coral reefs in the Red Sea. These corals are essential for a
healthy ocean, but live far beyond human range. Researchers
needed a robot that could collect samples without damaging
the reef and observe deep-sea specimens in their natural
habitat. Ocean One mimics a human SCUBA diver, complete
with arms, depth perception, and touch feedback, plus it can
survive significant depths. Since exploring the Red Sea, the
robot has traveled across the world, helping us learn about
the ocean without disrupting it.
 robots
collect
data..
Interestingly, not all underwater robots are humanoid, or even human-sized. Aquabotix is a
technology development company that creates vehicles for underwater inspection. It specializes in
swarm robots, or multiple small robots that can be controlled by one operator. As a whole, there are
multiple benefits to swarm robot submersibles. Swarm robots cover more territory than one robot can.
If there is damage to individual units, the entire research plan isn’t affected. It’s more affordable to
deploy a dozen swarm bots than one main robot platform. In the field of marine biology, swarm robots
can collect more data and more diverse data than a single robot (or even a varied team of researchers)

Robots
could. This makes the data more reliable and helps scientists learn more about the ocean and how to
protect it.      
 Robots
harvest wave
and solar
energy..
If we’re going to fight climate change, then we will need to
reduce our dependence on fossil fuels like oil. Developers are
turning to robots to help collect energy sustainably and use it
across industries and environments.
A great example is the Wave Glider by Liquid Robotics. It
looks like a surfboard and has built-in solar panels, collecting solar
energy as it moves along the ocean surface. It uses the stored
energy for propulsion and to recharge the batteries needed for its
sensors.
Wave Glider’s applications include collecting high-resolution
carbon dioxide samples in difficult locations for a complete
picture of global climate change.
 
 Robots eat
water pollution.
The Permaculture Research Institute in Australia recently covered the development of a
“Row-bot” developed by the University of Bristol that digests pollution in the water and turns
it into energy. The robot swims around, ingesting microbes which then power the boat’s
motor. It’s really no different than a whale shark filter feeding krill and using that food energy
to travel around the ocean.
According to Jonathan Rossiter, who hosted a TED talk about these robots, this
technology could help reduce the impact of tankers that flush their oil tanks into the sea and
of chemicals that are washed into rivers and wind up in the oceans. 
 Robots kill
invasive
species..
Sometimes protecting the environment means hunting
invasive species that take over and harm endangered plants and
animals. One example of this is the Crown-of-Thorns starfish on
the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. These coral-eating starfish can
kill off large swaths of reef, destroying the homes of thousands of
delicate species. Experts say this starfish is a threat equal to
climate change to the reef. The team at Biopixel TV recently shared
a solution to these pests: the RangerBot. This robot finds and kills
the starfish with an eco-friendly injection, preventing the starfish
from doing further damage. The results are staggering. Six human
divers could only cover half of the reef in a year, but six RangerBots
can cover the reef 14 times over the same period.
RangerBots also cost half the price of a human expedition, operate
day and night, and can collect other measurements like
temperature and salinity while they work.
 Robots also
pick up river
trash.
Pollution comes in all forms, from oils and other chemicals to plastic bags and straws. One company, Urban
Rivers, developed a trash robot for the Chicago River. It floats along collecting garbage to keep the waterway
clean.
The robot came to be after Urban Rivers installed 1,500 square feet of floating wetland and urban garden.
They noticed trash kept getting caught in the plants and sent someone out each day to pick it up. The team
realized the trash was only going to build, and started developing a robot to help them clean up the waterways.
This robot keeps the plants trash-free and prevents animals from accidentally ingesting the waste.
 
Robots make
recycling
easier..
As more people recycle, there is added pressure on humans to sort
the materials and determine what can be reused. This is highly manual
work, with people hunched over conveyor belts grabbing items as fast as
they can.
AMP Robotics hopes to make recycling easier. Its robots use AI to
“see” items on a conveyor belt and record what they are. The robot can
then sort the materials and place them into designated bins.
This solution increases efficiency with higher throughput and
better bale quality. It also allows users, whether cities or construction
companies, to budget more accurately with fixed labor rates.
 Robots climb
into the
sewers.
Our sewer systems have a massive impact on climate change, especially when you consider what and
where we dump our waste. They can also impact public health.
Tech writer Luke Dormehl at Digital Trends showcases Luigi, a sewer robot developed by MIT’s
Underworlds project is operated with an iPhone app, the robot studies bacteria and chemicals in
manholes. It is the first of a team of future sewer samplers that will collect and analyze raw sewage and
send the data back to the lab. The robots, using sampling instruments that upload data remotely (and
with plans for a real-time biochemical detection platform in the works) will be able to collect more
samples much faster than their human counterparts, who were limited to manually hauling liters of muck
at a time back to the lab.
 Robots
reduce
carbon
emissions..
Senior environment reporter Emily Guerin at KPCC
Southern California Public Radio recently discussed the rise of
automated equipment in the Port of Long Beach. While it is
adversely affecting union workers there, the impact on climate
change is good. This is because the new equipment releases no
emissions and greatly reduces the pollution-causing tools and
trucks needed to operate the port. Guerin explains that heavy
duty diesel trucks are responsible for 150 tons of smog
emissions per day (compared to 80 tons for cars and SUVs). If
automation can reduce this number, the air in Southern
California has a chance of clearing up.  
Robots reduce personal
transportation
emissions.
Transportation has a significant impact on climate change and carbon emissions. Alexandra
Gray at World Economic Forum reports that 23 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions
are caused by transportation.
Today’s innovators are not only developing electric cars, but also better batteries that
reduce the environmental impact of all vehicles. In fact, researchers at the University of Surrey
are developing an alternative to traditional battery power that is 1,000-10,000 times stronger
than that used today, allowing electric cars to travel similar distances to those that use gas and
to recharge in the time it takes to fill up the tank.
 Robots send
environmental alerts
on social media..
Robots alone can’t save the planet. These robots
need humans who want to protect the natural
environment and the plants and animals that live in it.
The developers at Climate Reality recently wrote
a “Rapid Response Team” program which sends
messages to their Facebook fans whenever there is
news related to the fight against climate change. Fans
can opt in and then take action based on the
message. This might mean calling their local
representatives or donating to a cause to help clean
up after a disaster. Thousands of people can come
together with the help of a bot coded on Facebook
sending out alerts.