05099 [alt-beam] Re: Someting funny with the subject line? was Something funny with the 1382 voltage triggers?

Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #05099

To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Steven Bolt sbolt@xs4all.nl
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 10:36:47 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Someting funny with the subject line? was Something funny with the 1382 voltage triggers?

On Wed, 7 Jul 1999, Bob Shannon wrote:

> > BEAM `bots may be charming, remind us of living insects, be
> > skillfully built or even art. But any behaviour, any trial & error
> > we see is entirely between *our* ears. They `try' to move about and
> > make `errors' as much as an aeolian harp tries to make music and
> > errors the tune...
>
> At what point does a good simulation start being a fair emulation?

BEAM `bots are neither simulating nor emulating live insects, or
any other life. They merely remind us of such living examples.

> > BEAM `bots don't have to perform tasks, but they might be more
> > interesting when based on properly designed, described and
> > explained circuitry. That kind of stuff can behave just as
> > `insect-like', if that's what is wanted.
>
> Technically, if it does not perform a tast, its not a robot.
> Make a photovore carry around a solar powered thingy, even a flag
> spinner, and now you have a real robot.

I would prefer a little more task-orientation, hence the Easter Egg
Hunt. Those working on Egg Hunters should know a lot more about
searching an area when their `bots have done their job. And the
Egg Hunt is a reasonable first model for other problems, like
vacuming a floor, mowing a lawn, and searching for mines.
The latter two applications are closer to most natural search
problems. Every animal does plenty of `Egg Hunting' when it
forages, looks for a place to build a nest, a mate and so on.
Searching something is perhaps the most basic intellectual
interaction between individual and environment.

> But BEAM overlooks this a bit.

It tries for lowest barrier and highest attractiveness, is as I see it.
A great first step in need of circuitry which is easier to repeat
with more reliable results.

> > > But, aside from all that, it is still a great way to pull kids
> > > away from video games and get them to pick up a soldering iron.
> > > Getting them to realize that they are doing weird things and that
> > > there is a conventional method to these components is the hard
> > > part.
> >
> > Which present BEAM makes harder than necessary.
>
> That right. Circuit evolution can be seperate from robot
> evolution. If SE's were cheap, bitty little things the size of a
> transistor, beginners would go crazy building all sorts of things
> we would never dream of.

Small size seems less important than well designed, well described
and properly explained circuitry.

> And thats probably why its never been done.

You lost me there.

> > It seems to me that fewer would turn away in frustration, and more
> > would learn to really enjoy mechatronics if BEAM would put them not
> > so much in the dark to begin with.
>
> Then make the parts avaialble so that people can deal with
> mechatronics rather than how to free form an SE.

It seems to me that parts already are available.

Best,

Steve

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# sbolt@xs4all.nl # Steven Bolt # popular science monthly KIJK #
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