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The Robot Diaries

Posted by Hemos on from the building-the-machine dept.

I enjoyed reading the robot diaries which are an account of building some BEAM [?] robots from kits. BEAM bots are interesting in that the design sense behind it is much more building from the ground-up (IE, build a robot to resemble an insect) rather then trying to build from the top down. Basically a more evolutionary approach to things.

2 of 81 comments (clear)

  1. BEAM Robots and Battlebots. by viper21 · · Score: 5

    I think it would be amusing to create one of these BEAM bots with the sole mission of keeping a 1 meter distance between itself and any other object. Then you put it into Battlebot competition. No one controls it, and all it does is run.

    I can see the next breed of Battlebots planning for this escapade. They'll all install forward facing halogen lamps. No BEAM bot can resist the light.

    -S

    Scott Ruttencutter

    --

    We Apprentice Developers and Designers
  2. I don't believe it. by paRcat · · Score: 5

    I've been building BEAM bots for a few years now, and I was wondering when a BEAM article would get posted here. cool.

    For anyone interested in this, especially if you have been discouraged by trying to build other forms of robots, please look into BEAM. While it isn't always as cheap as they like to make it seem, it's much more rewarding than typical CPU-driven robotics.

    If you would really like to learn more, you could try Solarbotics and get a kit, or just build your own from scraps. (It's much cheaper that way. :) I have a few that I've built for under $10 US, and none have been more than $30.

    But don't be fooled.. even though they are reasonably easy to build, they are worthy of the title "Research Platform". The analog loops that Nv neurons produce can form some strikingly natural paterns. And people tend to like BEAM bots a little more than CPU based versions because they move much more quickly and naturally.

    Above all, of course, have fun.