# Poop Robots **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638 "2014-05-30T16:43:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/1 "2014-05-30T16:43:47Z")
In a nod to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17419109#post17419109), I checked to see if I could find any defecating robots. And I am proud to give you the [Pooping Duck Automaton](http://www.neatorama.com/2012/08/07/The-Pooping-Duck-Automaton/#!Ssq8m). 😃 More than 200 years ago, a French engineer designed it to eat and digest grains and then poop them out through a mechanical sphincter. (Note to self: “Mechanical Sphincter” for a band name.) Some people paid a week’s wages just to see it, and the engineer became a wealthy man. But it was actually a hoax, as the “poop” was really just some dyed-green breadcrumbs that was placed in a special chamber beforehand. Any other examples? ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/2 "2014-05-30T16:52:15Z")
Okay, this was funny: > [@](#): > > Voltaire even mused that “without the shitting duck of Vaucanson, you will have nothing to remind you of the glory of France.” ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/3 "2014-05-30T16:55:32Z")
Fulfilling a promise made in an unrelated thread, here’s my “Poop Robots” thread. Item 1: from 2011, [the amazing dog-walking, poop-scooping robot](http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/poop-scoop-robot-111021.htm), or “ **P** erception **O** f **O** ffensive **P** roducts and **S** ensorizied **C** ontrol **O** f **O** bject **P** ickup” (get it?), courtesy of our friends at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. Item 2: from 2010, [a robot that digests and extracts energy from liquified food, then “poops” waste](http://www.cnet.com/news/holy-crap-scientists-create-pooping-robot/). Maybe it’s just me, but that thing vaguely resembles a “[Titanium Clawer](http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5079/titaniumcrawlerconceptw.jpg)” from Wasteland. That’s all I’ve got for now. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/4 "2014-05-30T16:55:46Z")
Artist [Wim Delvoye](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Delvoye) built a pooping machine as an art installation. He called it Cloaca. I actually saw the one in Montreal. Not sure if this is a “robot” or an art piece. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/5 "2014-05-30T16:58:33Z")
[You’re #2.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=724758) ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/6 "2014-05-30T16:59:26Z")
Ha! ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/7 "2014-05-30T17:20:47Z")
Merged duplicate threads. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/8 "2014-05-30T17:23:28Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Merged duplicate threads. A mechanical process, in which two threads are digested and a single thread pooped out. Fitting! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/9 "2014-05-30T17:28:35Z")
> [@EmilyG](#): > > Artist [Wim Delvoye](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Delvoye) built a pooping machine as an art installation. He called it Cloaca. I actually saw the one in Montreal. > > Not sure if this is a “robot” or an art piece. I read about that about twelve years ago, when it was exhibited in New York. I was amused to read that it was “fed” meals from top-end restaurants, every day at 11am. Also, its output was sealed in Plexiglas and sold. So it’s eating better than me, and its output is more highly prized than mine. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/10 "2014-05-30T17:30:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I read about that about twelve years ago, when it was exhibited in New York. I was amused to read that it was “fed” meals from top-end restaurants, every day at 11am. Also, its output was sealed in Plexiglas and sold. So it’s eating better than me, and its output is more highly prized than mine. Sounds like the preferred life of the modern artist. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/11 "2014-05-30T18:31:46Z")
Bender has been known to [shit bricks](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu7vYFWO9KA) on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/12 "2014-05-30T18:50:11Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > A mechanical process, in which two threads are digested and a single thread pooped out. Fitting! 😃 Nope-It’s all done by hand. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2014, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/13 "2014-05-30T22:52:32Z")
There are many of [this ilk](http://www.amazon.com/Wind-up-Pooping-Easter-Dispenser-Colors/dp/B00BHPGZ06/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1401490316&sr=8-1&keywords=pooping+rabbit+toy). ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/14 "2014-05-31T00:41:15Z")
[How about a giant taco that craps ice cream?](http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/103617/ice-cream-crapping-taco) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/15 "2014-05-31T00:43:08Z")
> [@DCnDC](#): > > Fulfilling a promise made in an unrelated thread, here’s my “Poop Robots” thread. > > Item 1: from 2011, [the amazing dog-walking, poop-scooping robot](http://news.discovery.com/tech/robotics/poop-scoop-robot-111021.htm), or “ **P** erception **O** f **O** ffensive **P** roducts and **S** ensorizied **C** ontrol **O** f **O** bject **P** ickup” (get it?), courtesy of our friends at the GRASP Lab at the University of Pennsylvania. This was the first thing that popped into my head when I read the thread title. If they can bring the price down a little, (OK, about $398,800) they’ve got a customer. Actually, if they made it a backyard poop-Roomba, that would be perfect. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2014, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poop-robots/689638/16 "2014-05-31T01:44:43Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > In a nod to [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=17419109#post17419109), I checked to see if I could find any defecating robots. And I am proud to give you the [Pooping Duck Automaton](http://www.neatorama.com/2012/08/07/The-Pooping-Duck-Automaton/#!Ssq8m). 😃 > > More than 200 years ago, a French engineer designed it to eat and digest grains and then poop them out through a mechanical sphincter. (Note to self: “Mechanical Sphincter” for a band name.) Some people paid a week’s wages just to see it, and the engineer became a wealthy man. But it was actually a hoax, as the “poop” was really just some dyed-green breadcrumbs that was placed in a special chamber beforehand. > > Any other examples? > [@Malthus](#): > > Okay, this was funny: **Malthus’** quote from my link: **“Voltaire even mused that ‘without the shitting duck of Vaucanson, you will have nothing to remind you of the glory of France’.”** And the really funny thing is that this remains true to this day. > [@twickster](#): > > Merged duplicate threads. I’m not sure you can have too many Poop Robots threads.