Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #01450
To: beam@corp.sgi.com
From: "Tom Edwards" edwards9@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 13:22:37 PST
Subject: [alt-beam] Please consider this...
The sheets, blankets and comforter of your bed contain a small colony of
unobtrusive BEAM-style robots. These robots "live" in the corners and
the middle of the edges of the various pieces of bedclothing. The
colony is "happiest" (willing to expend the -least- effort) when its
piece is aligned properly with the "main" portion of the bed -- after
all, that's where the big induction coil is centered. The 'bots obtain
their energy from that all-important coil, non-contact, in the manner of
today's cordless toothbrushes. The induction coil is turned off
whenever there is any reason to suppose that a "biological" creature is
near or on the bed.
The corner members of the colony have different parameters from the edge
members; perhaps even the top corners might have different parameters
from the bottom corners. None of the colony actually communicate save
how they change the state of their common piece of bedclothing -- but
that is enough.
When they perform these actions they must not frighten animals, children
or the faint of heart. Fortunately, a small claw that extends, catches,
pulls and then releases would probably have such nasty mechanics that no
one would wish to build such a thing. Perhaps something like a Turbot
enclosed in a kevlar/teflon enclosure sewed to the bedclothing might
work.
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