Heat-absorbing robot shares the warmth when you're cold
Looking to cut down on those expensive heating bills during the winter months? The Hagent robot concept could help you do just that.
(Credit:
Daniel Abendroth)
As I'm writing this post, I'm desperately trying to find a way to warm up my feet and hands. I suppose ditching the ice-cold soda would be a good place to start, but I need some caffeine on this post-Super Bowl Monday. If only I had Hagent, the heat-spewing robot, by my side.
Hagent is a portable heating concept by German designers Andreas Meinhardt and Daniel Abendroth. Though it looks like a simple black box on the outside, the mobile bot is capable of searching out heat, absorbing it, and then re-releasing the heat in cold places.
Heat sensors incorporated into the black box allow Hagent to identify large sources of heat, while something called phase change material (PCM) can absorb, store, and release the heat in places where it's needed. So, for example, Hagent can gather heat coming from your burning fireplace and then move over to a part of your house that's chilly and warm it up by releasing the stored energy. It's not immediately clear, however, if Hagent automatically detects cold spots or if you must instruct it to go to a certain room.
Hagent is still just a prototype at this point, but if it ever came to market, it could go a long way in cutting down heating and electricity bills during the winter months. You can check out Daniel Abendroth's Web site for more videos and information about Hagent.
(Via Ubergizmo)
