Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #03677
To: Bruce Robinson Bruce_Robinson@bc.sympatico.ca
From: "George Rix" rix.g@bmts.com
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 07:27:53 -0400
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: BEAM and machine evolution
> No one has mentioned the dynamics of BEAM. It's a system -- a very
> complex one. Consider just one tiny part of that system:
> Many young people come to BEAM with only a small knowledge of
> electronics and mechanics, and with little experience in soldering and
> sticking things together. They have to learn all these skills as well as
> trying to build robots.
That's why this hobby is so great; with a minimum amount of electronics
know-how, you get lots of neat results, plus it teaches you electronics, so
you can build even more complex bots!
> They acquire the skills and knowledge very quickly. But other things
> start to creep into their lives. Cars, love interests, other skills such
> as music. There is less time for BEAM. And of course, money becomes a
> limiting factor.
That's a major problem, money, I mean. We need to get some free motors about
the size of a thimble that have a good gear system included =)
I wish, oh I really, really, wish that we had them!
There's no place like home (click, click), there's no place like home...
> And then there's the last years of high school, followed by college
> and/or a job. Suddenly a lot of time is taken up with studies, and work.
> Money is still tight.
> And then comes independence -- their own "home", a spouse or equivalent,
> a career, a family. And BEAM has to take a back seat. Just when they are
> all prepped to take on really interesting BEAM adventures.
> This, of course, is a very broad generalization. But its a good
> illustration of BEAM dynamics. People are flowing in, relatively
> unskilled, and as they get really skilled, many flow out. To long-time
> BEAMers, it might look as though everyone's stuck in a rut; or it might
> look as though BEAM is a dead end. It's not.
Yes, fairly broad. I enjoy looking out for generalizations that I don't fit
into =)
I don't sleep very much due to my CFS, and when I do, mostly in the day, so
I am being tutored for my schooling, which greatly increases my time for
other interests, especially during the night hours (it's almost 7:30 AM
here, so I'll be off to bed shortly), although I'm not supposed to solder
unless my parents are around and awake.
> The flow goes on, but out of that flow is accumulating a body of
> knowledge. Even though people may leave the BEAM community, they leave
> behind a legacy of ideas and visions.
That is most definitely true.
And they encourage others with said ideas and visions while they're still
here. If I was to give credit to all the people who have inspired me to get
some idea or other, the list of said people would be longer than all the
messages ever posted to this list put together!
> BEAM's just getting started. We haven't begun to see the potential.
Very true.
And about the comment where it had said about limited abilities of Nv loops,
I agree, that loops have limitations. But I guess (I haven't been able to
build a microcore and test this because I ran out of caps and resistors)
that if you use different patterns than a simple loop, maybe something
approaching a Celtic Knot pattern, for instance, you can add functionality
that was alot more difficult to implement in a loop.
But then, that's just a guess. Not even an educated one, though it seems to
make sense to me.
> Regards to all,
> Bruce
Signing off,
Rob Rix
___________________________________________________________________________
'I guess I picked the wrong week to stop sniffing glue' - from Airplane
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