The idea behind Quorobot comes from components of bacterial communication, thermoelectricity, and nanotechnology. The history of these three elements are shown in this timeline.
Leeuwenhoek discovers the first bacterial cell, a mouth cell. He was a scientist who greatly improved the microscope in his time. This discovery is impressive considering the primitive materials he had used.
Leeuwenhoek discovers the first sperm cell. Pictured is his drawings of the spermatozoa. The inspiration for Quorobot partly came from the design of a sperm cell.
Biofilm, a large group of coordinated bacteria, is discovered by Leeuwenhoek when he was observing the accumulation of microorganisms in dental plaque. Bacteria use quorum sensing to form biofilms. In his own words, "The number of these animalcules in the scurf of a man's teeth are so many that I believe they exceed the number of men in a kingdom."
Thomas Seebeck finds that when two metals of different temperatures touch, they produce voltage. This is one part of the thermoelectric effect.
Peltier finds out that passing electricity through two metals makes one’s temperature increase and the other decrease. This is essentially the opposite of the Seebeck effect and is another component of thermoelectricity.
RTG's (Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators) develop, which are able to power spacecrafts by converting the heat from a Pu238 heat source into electricity using thermoelectric couples. NASA has used this technology in many missions such as Apollo, Pioneer, Viking, Voyager, Galileo and Cassini.
The birth of nanoscience, studying miniscule objects, is described by Richard Feynman. He shocked others in his speech "There's Plenty of Room at the Bottom," in which he described manipulating objects at the molecular level.
Bacterial quorum sensing is discovered after researching Vibrio fischeri and noticing that they glow only in large colonies. The original explanation for this glowing was false, however, and was corrected after scientists discovered autoinducers.
Since this date, the thermoelectric industry develops as companies find conventional uses for cooling units called Peltier coolers that use the thermoelectric effect. These include optoelectronics, small refrigerators and seat cooling/heating systems.
The autoinducer for Vibrio fischeri is finally discovered and identified. Scientists realize that the original explanation for their glowing was false, and that that it was due to these autoinducers, an "activator molecule" that "activates luminescence" when there are large amounts of it.
