Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #00430
To: Richard Piotter richfile@rconnect.com
From: Bob Shannon bshannon@tiac.net
Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1999 11:38:00 -0800
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: question
Richard Piotter wrote:
>
> Is a CPU based 5 motor walker going to be much less expensive than a BEAM 5
> motor walker? I highly doubt it. 4 under 1 dollar chips, 14 10 cent capacitors,
> 14 1 cent resistors, and the same sensors your CPU based bot would use. There
> are other things, but you get the idea. Same mechanics, cheaper controller. If
> you use a tiny, cheaper CPU with fewer features, you can bias the robot to do
> things, without the CPU needing too many features. I may try this on the 5 motor
> walker, which is already going to have a plug for a modular controller (so I can
> build diferent things and just plug them in to try them).
> --
>
> Richard Piotter
> richfile@rconnect.com
As soon as you need to alter the behavior, the CPU just got cheaper than
BEAM.
Component costs are not the only factor.
Look at cars, there is a wide array of cars at very different price
points, but their component costs are very similar. Its the engineering
costs that drive the retail price.
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