Usually, I get bright ideas for technology when I'm away from a writing implement but this article inspired me especially the following section:
Another problem is the poor state of water pipelines in many communities, allowing leakage, and contamination.
Well, imagine a pipe fixer, it's powered by waterwheel. As water circulates in the pipe, the machine gets juice. It creeps along the pipe system checking for leaks. Where it finds a leak, it either reports in or fixes the leak itself. since these pipes last an awfully long time, our robot repairer doesn't have to move very fast.
Posted by TMLutas at July 15, 2004 12:51 AM