Egyptian engineer Mahmoud el-Koumy, winner of the Geneva Invention Award, has invented a robot that extracts drinking water from the air.
The Egyptian inventor says that the robot has proven that it can condense moisture on the surface of Mars, becoming the first of its kind able to do so.
During an interview with Good Morning Egypt, Koumy explained that the robot can locate areas with the highest humidity to set up a water generating station.
He added that the conditions on Mars are much harsher than those on Earth, so on Earth, the device only needs 15 percent humidity to operate, while on Mars it needs a larger percentage.
Koumy said that his invention would create cities in the desert for little to no energy cost.
It is also a more cost effective way to produce water, as desalinating sea water costs 20 cents per liter, whereas the robot can do the same work for 1.5 cents.
Egypt’s Environment Minister Yasmine Fouad found Koumy’s proposal intriguing, so she provided him with a laboratory for water analysis.
The scientist said that Egypt’s adoptive approach to artificial intelligence and technology was the incentive for him to manufacture such a project in his home country.
Koumy said that the robot is in line with the state’s plan for sustainable development 2030.
