Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #05109



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Steven Bolt sbolt@xs4all.nl
Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 16:23:11 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Task for walker?


On Thu, 8 Jul 1999, Addy Yeow wrote:

> Till now, from what i'm aware,BEAM machines don't do any task and they are
> just survivors,right?
> But if I/we want to give a task or two for currently existing 2-motor BEAM
> walkers,what can we let them to do,which cannot be done by wheeled or
> tracked machines at similar scale?Yeah, i know it is still early for BEAM
> machines to perform tasks.But what is the possibility if we want to with
> currently existing machines(walkers)...?Anyone?Please...

The motives for making small `bots walk are generally:

1 to 10) Fun, lifelike, impresses the public
11) All legs are powered and able to lift feet over obstacles,
which can make the `bot do better in difficult terrain

Disadvantages:

1) Higher power consumption
2) Can be difficult to make light and strong enough
3) Tends to be mechanically complex

Possible tasks:

Not much can be done with the 2-motor BEAM-style walker, but other
configurations are possible.
I'm still looking at a small, walking grass-nibbler. The idea would
be to make it weatherproof and capable of keeping a certain area of
lawn short. When a lawn is too large for one `bot, several would
have to work together, automatically dividing the task. My Spider
Sound System

Linkname: Spider sound system
URL: http://www.xs4all.nl/~sbolt/e-spider_sound.html

Might perhaps be used to make the bots keep a certain distance
between them. The work would be done during the night. In daytime,
the `bots would recharge at a solar powered feeding station.
The really difficult part is keeping them on the grass; I dislike
the idea of a perimeter wire. Access restrictions may be required
to keep human predators at bay. Systematically giving all of the
lawn equal nibble attention is another tough one.
The case for legs as opposed to wheels is of course not very
strong. Any better ideas?

Steve

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