Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #03679
To: Bruce Robinson Bruce_Robinson@bc.sympatico.ca
From: Bob Shannon bshannon@tiac.net
Date: Tue, 25 May 1999 07:46:24 -0400
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: BEAM and machine evolution
Bruce Robinson wrote:
> 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.
While this does describe a lot of people on the list, it does not describe
BEAM as a whole. Many people here have several decades of electronics,
and even robotics experiance.
> 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.
I disagree.
BEAM is built on a foundation of questionable solar engine cuircuits and
biases against 'better' designs, like the silly anti-CPU bias (which is
actually
softening slightly).
If it were really about evolution, more people would be building Sun Eaters
rather than FLED solar engines.
> 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.
If this is true then BEAM evolution is moving at a snails pace as compared
to
'conventional' hobby robotics, based on the number of new and interesting
designs
and web sites out there.
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