Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #06958



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Bruce Robinson Bruce_Robinson@telus.net
Date: Wed, 20 Oct 1999 21:55:50 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Tilden on PBS


James Wilson wrote:
>
> Hey just remember Tilden is a Canadian,
> following in the foot steps of other
> great Canadian inventors like Henry
> Woodward (light bulb!! Edison bought it
> from him) Alexander Graham Bell (telephone)
> Marconi the radio incl the first ever transmission
> accross the atlantic, Flemming std time, Salk the
> cure for polio the list goes on and on and on.

Don't forget, A.G. Bell also invented the hydrofoil. And who was the
first person to fly and engine-driven, heavier than air machine? Nope,
not Orville Wright (Dec 17, 1903). It was Louis Gagnon (Canadian of
course) who had a sustained flight of just under 1 minute in February,
1902.

Wright gets all the credit because his flight was well documented.
Gagnon (a railway engineer) just built his contraption and flew it. No
official record, no reporters, and the flight ended in a spectacular
crash which put him in hospital and destroyed the machine.

Sorry, couldn't not get my 2 cents worth (1.33 cents US) in.

Bruce

PS: Let's not forget Wilf, another great Canadian BEAMer.

BR



6959 Wed, 20 Oct 1999 22:14:02 -0700 [alt-beam] Re: Patent (was: Tilden on PBS) beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Bruce Robinson "John A. deVries II" wrote:
>
> In any case, I don't think we ought
> to presume it has expired without
> convincing evidence to that effect.

From the US Patent office website:

Result of search for "5325031":
5325031 Expired at 4 years

The patent was issued June 28, 1994, so it expired in 1998.
If you want to look for yourself, the site is at:

http://www.uspto.gov/

However, regardless of whether or not it expired, I personally choose to
credit Mark with the invention and I would certainly discuss any
commercial ventures with him before proceeding, even if I had no legal
obligation to do so.

Regards,
Bruce



6960 Wed, 20 Oct 1999 22:18:47 -0700 [alt-beam] Re: head/walker interface idea beam@sgiblab.sgi.com Bruce Robinson Evan Dudzik wrote:
>
> here goes. just have a head mounted on a walker, that
> just functions on its own. put two touch sensors on
> the walker, one on each side of the head, so that when
> the head turns a certain distance either way, it
> touches one of the sensors and makes the walker
> respond . (probably making it turn, duh!) this way,
> the walker and head will be completely separate until
> the head is WAY turned one way. the bot will not
> track light all the time, just stay in the general
> vicinity of it. oh well.

Nothing wrong with the idea. Probably lots of other ways to do it.
What's important is the fact that "staying in the general vicinity" can
be much more useful than tracking something precisely.

Regards,
Bruce



6961 Fri, 22 Oct 1999 00:22:48 -0400 [alt-beam] Proposal-SOLAR PSHead Fest: my offer beam@sgiblab.sgi.com SG Hey NEWBIES! and anyone else interested
I make a Motion! (committee jargon there)
read on thru.. free stuff offered...

I have an offer you can't refuse, especially you newbies!
(myself included!)
I propose we all (at the same time)
tackle the Solar PS head circuit
designed by Wilf (many thanx and bows and etc. offered) and
tested and displayed by Darrell Johnson at:
http://home.pacbell.net/wundoba
(i am soooo impressed! but then I guess i told you that
many times Darrell!)

We can all learn by DOING, and helping each other, rather than
bugging the more experienced here all the time
(which i wince at everytime i have to do it!)
so...being the cool, neato, nice, generous, and
modest guy that i am:

I am willing to give the RESISTORS in the circuit FREE
to anyone who wants them. (one resitor set per customer)
you have to provide all the other stuff yurself. (C'mon!
give Dave at Solarbotics yur buizness!!) Thats right!
frustrated that Rat Shack doesn't carry anything like a
10M or a 510k? Well now you have no excuse.....

I make this proposal in order to reach four Objectives:
1. Newbies will learn a useful and very cool circuit, without getting on
the seasoned hobbiest' nerves
2. Newbies will learn the basics of circuitry
3. Having a number of people working on the same project will
benefit all involved in their project (ok, this is kinda vague)
4. Corrisponding on the behavior of our projects could yield some
interesting results, when the exact same subject is dealt with in many
differnt settings and/or habitats.

I think the results will be quite benificial. We can archive our results,
and direct "new" newbies to the project even when it's done and we have
moved on to three foot - four motor walkers with speech simulators.

Wattya say? I've got those resistors fer ya. It's a start.
just email me personaly if you are interested, or post to the list if you
can improve on this proposal.
-SPARKY








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