Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #00824



To: BEAM List beam@corp.sgi.com
From: dennison dennlill@buffnet.net
Date: Mon, 22 Feb 1999 22:43:11 -0500
Subject: [alt-beam] Overextension



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I hate to be a bubble burster, but in light of recent (and past) discussion=
threads about things like Warrior BEAM bot's or Ant Hive bot's I would lik=
e to only slight temper the discusion with a tiny droplet of reality. Some =
of these discussion's are getting just nearly absurd in their proportions. =
Now I don't want to be acused of destroying creativity and insight, and exp=
erimentalism, but I think people have to think more with their heads. Robot=
ics stuff is Actually mildy HARD stuff to do. Especailly reliably. It's fun=
to talk about microcore controlled stung gun rocket propelled portable inc=
inerating cyborg invaders, and the battles between the Photopopper thermonu=
clear ionized pulse jet disrupter walkers, but please! lets be reasonable h=
ere people. One of the 'problems' with robotics is that it very quickly bec=
omes 'oversold'. =


Real life example:
I remeber over the summer at Carnegie Mellon, In Introduction to Electr=
ical Engineering we all built these small robots to race in a competition a=
t the end of the course, (My bot almost won also, out of only three?? bots =
who were actually ABLE to compete, but the batteries died. Darn dry cells) =
Anyway, some people had these big elaborate schemes about the things they w=
ould add to their robots, and how victorious they would be with them. When =
I mentioned that much of what they said really *couldn't* be done due to va=
rious logisitical problems (ones you learn only from experince) they mocked=
my advice simply because I wasn't so 'nerdish' about enginnering, and didn=
't exactly recieve good grades in the course *cringe* (too many pretty girl=
s to talk too, what can I say?) But as it turned out, these people who had =
ton's of theory background in Digital logic and Ap physics and the such, ha=
d TREMENDOUS trouble just trying to get their machines to work. Many didn'=
t even do that! Let alone building directional EMP pulse generators. The pr=
oblem is that the Theory sounds much easyer than the implementation actuall=
y is.

Whats the point to this story you ask?

There is a great deal more that goes into robotics than even just the schem=
atics and the parts. As I'm sure people have noticed robot's need the build=
er to take into account ton's of things, from the resistance of the FLUX, t=
o the battery charge levels, to how the thing is supposed to acctually WORK=
. =


It's important to keep in consideration the SCOPE of the things we are tryi=
ng to do here. While I highly applaud creativity and new ideas and enthusia=
sm, It's important for people to actually get something to work. As one of =
the old (and great) robotics book's said; "Forget the buzzers, and flashing=
lights, bells and whistles and frilly stuff till the end. It's hard enough=
to build a robot, and gimmicks will just make it harder to do so." So, my =
peice of opinion, (and not a harsh opinion either, more of a calm 'please d=
o not start a flame war' type opinion):

Let's first build something that WORKS. Then we'll add the EMP thermo-volta=
ic pulse gun.

Dennison


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Real life example:

    I remeber over the s=
ummer at =

Carnegie Mellon, In Introduction to Electrical Engineering we all built the=
se =

small robots to race in a competition at the end of the course, (My bot alm=
ost =

won also, out of only three?? bots who were actually ABLE to compete, but t=
he =

batteries died. Darn dry cells) Anyway, some people had these big elaborate=
=

schemes about the things they would add to their robots, and how victorious=
they =

would be with them. When I mentioned that much of what they said really =

*couldn't* be done due to various logisitical problems (ones you learn only=
from =

experince) they mocked my advice simply because I wasn't so 'nerdish' about=
=

enginnering, and didn't exactly recieve good grades in the course *cringe* =
(too =

many pretty girls to talk too, what can I say?) But as it turned out, these=
=

people who had ton's of theory background in Digital logic and Ap physics a=
nd =

the such, had TREMENDOUS trouble just trying to get their machines to =

work.  Many didn't even do that! Let alone building directional EMP pu=
lse =

generators. The problem is that the Theory sounds much easyer than the =

implementation actually is.

 

Whats the point to this story you =

ask?

 

There is a great deal more that goes in=
to =

robotics than even just the schematics and the parts. As I'm sure people ha=
ve =

noticed robot's need the builder to take into account ton's of things, from=
the =

resistance of the FLUX, to the battery charge levels, to how the thing is =

supposed to acctually WORK. 

 

It's important to keep in consideration=
the =

SCOPE of the things we are trying to do here. While I highly applaud creati=
vity =

and new ideas and enthusiasm, It's important for people to actually get =

something to work. As one of the old (and great) robotics book's said; =

"Forget the buzzers, and flashing lights, bells and whistles and frill=
y =

stuff till the end. It's hard enough to build a robot, and gimmicks will ju=
st =

make it harder to do so." So, my peice of opinion, (and not a harsh op=
inion =

either, more of a calm 'please do not start a flame war' type =

opinion):

 

Let's first build something that WORKS.=
Then =

we'll add the EMP thermo-voltaic pulse gun.

 

Dennison





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