Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #09720
To: alt-beam@egroups.com
From: TurtleTek@aol.com
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 17:52:44 EST
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: A neophyte enters the BEAM realm....
In a message dated 1/30/00 6:19:23 PM Central Standard Time,
william@characterlink.net writes:
> Frankly what really set me upon trying out BEAM, is the
> article in Febs. Smithsonian about Mark Tilden. Fascinating.
One of the first things you might learn is that all that stuff they put in
the popular science magazines about MarkT and his work is that it's not
really like that. Those articles seem to be half fact half fantasy. I don't
know if this makes sense, but by the time you've built a few bots, you'll
become a "heretic".
>1. Me as a total neophyte, what do I do?? I read that a good starting place
>is with a Solar Rover, BUT, it seems well ... simplistic ... a photopopper
>typeish design seems so much more interesting. Yall's (Ok, you know I'm from
>the South now) opinion?
Excellent. In my opinion, solar rollers are a waste of time. Skipping right
ahead to the photovores is not a bad idea. Some people actually find the
solar designs move challenging than the microcore bots but for the most of
us, a photovore is no big deal. ...But you may find your first bot doesn't
work for no good reason.
>2. One thing that greatly disturbs me about this whole hobby is that I can't
>get everything from Rat Shack! (Sorry, I know you EEs and such are gagging
>:) I'm a first class tight wad, and the thought of paying $6.00 S/H for
>$2-$3 of parts is like pulling teeth, or worse! Isn't there anyway to build
>a solar engine with RS parts?? Bicore? I mean, $1.00 - $3.00 is not SO bad,
>but $6.00 with Solarbotics is a bit over the limit. Any thoughts?
Radio Shack is not a good place to get your parts. It's fine for tools, in
most cases but the parts are overpriced (tip: never buy a RS solar cell!!).
You don't have to use Solarbotics, it's on the expensive side of the
spectrum. Go for Digikey in most cases, it's prices are good and they ship
quickly and inexpensively. If you live in the South of the US, your order
will arrive quickly. Digikey is based in Texas and I get my parts in Missouri
in about 3 days.
Good luck and happy BEAMing,
-Brien the TurtleTek
URL: www.extremesc.com/turtletek/beam
9721 Wednesday, February 02, 2000 5:36 PM Re: Nifty little bug program beam@sgiblab.sgi.com William Cox
>I couldn't find it.
>-William
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Richard Caudle
>To: BEAM
>Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 6:03 PM
>Subject: Nifty little bug program
>
>
>Hello there all!
>
>A lurking friend of mine sent me this link the other day. There you can
>find a "game" called BUGBRAIN. Very cool neural programming sharware! I
>love it and it helps with understanding how to make more complex Nv and Nu
>networks.
>
>Check it out! Thanks to Sam (samn7)!
>
>Richard Caudle
>www.geocities.com/frankendaddy
>Home ICQ - Frankendaddy
>
>Guardians of the sacred words: Nee, Ptang, and NeeWhon!
>
>
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