TEDx Mecha

Preservation through Destruction

This is my piece for the TEDx Portland “Book of Tomorrows”. I was asked to create a piece that explored what the future of Ecology might look like, so I drew a mecha.

Our future ecology is all about Arcomes; manufactured self-sustaining protected ecosystems. Deep-bore Ecophage mining extracts of all mineral resources from a threatened ecosystem. . This process leaves it completely destroyed, but also protects the future Arcome from any commercial development by removing all natural resources. It also reshapes the terrain into a new more optimal Arcoscape. Flora and fauna are then introduced in stages using specially designed automated drones. In 10 years a new Arcome is up and running, completely self-sustaining, sequestering carbon at over ten times its previous per meter peak, preserving species and protecting our future.

Auto-Silviculticator

The mecha is a DEM-TR808 Autonomous Silvicultivator manufactured by Jiangling Mercedes-Benz. It can plant up to 50 E-class saplings an hour. It has integrated swarm-H AI capability, to select and target optimal reforestation patterns. Shown with optional auxiliary seed disperser. In concert with standard RPT Aerial tenders, it can maintain continuous peak output without maintenance for up to 19 days. On the fly tagging allows trees to be marked by sponsors in real time.