Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #02509
To: beam@webconn.com
From: "Mark W. Tilden" mwtilden@aerie.lanl.gov
Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 15:17:35 -0700
Subject: Re: Basic Stamps?
Let me just state for the record that processors are not
incompatable with BEAM philosophy in any way, and if people are
more comfortable programming then great. Use what you know any way
you can. I submit though that BEAM tech can significantly increase
your chances of a successful first-time cool-bot, so please give it
a gander before you leap straight to putting legs on a laptop.
I am convinced that despite the common wisdom to the contrary, good
programming cannot make up for bad mechanics, and that the basic
principles acquired in building a BEAM machine will give you a
high-probability success against which you can assess program
operation.
An ugly truth, but it is accurate. Many try to build a uP based
robot right off and become so disillusioned that they never attempt
another. Been there, done that. BEAM tech is designed to bypass
most of the first-time horrors to increase the chances that an
amateur will become a roboticist, and not just another simulation
junkie.
I can build my own robots, what I can't build is roboticists.
That's what the BEAM philosophy is all about.
markt.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
# sbolt@xs4all.nl # Steven Bolt # popular science monthly KIJK #
----------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
eGroup home: http://www.eGroups.com/group/alt-beam
Free Web-based e-mail groups by eGroups.com
Home