Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #09726
To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "Dennison Bertram" dibst11+@pitt.edu
Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 20:39:57 -0500
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Solarbotics Hextile Designs
t:
a) Don't copy Tilden's boards. They aren't sufficiently general even
though they seemed to be when he first drafted them --
This is a reasonably good point. As experimenters we need breath to try our
own things. I wouldn't stray too far from Tidlens' designs as some things
I'm sure he's worked out pretty well. Although, it may be worth ones while
to make completly general boards, that offer pure prototypeing space. But
something a little more sophisticated and usefull than just a grid of empty
through hole pins. That always annoys me. But again, don't stray too far
from tildeneese. But don't use the BigFoot Hextile boards posted on the
internet since ninety something.
b) Make a board that can easily be wired as bicores or individual Nv/Nu
neurons.
Bicore and NV/NU units are a key word here. Very important. While it's easy
to easy to forget the NU's for sensors they turn out to be exactly the
difference between a nice and neat, and not so neat design.
c) Do make a board like his power conditioner/startup signal chip.
Yes Yes Yes Yes. And make it PM-able. Sometimes we will just want solar
power.
d) It might be a good idea to ignore the '14 IC. I expect some people will
disagree.
I don't think I'm one of them. While the '14 has it's uses because it's so
convinent for NV/Nu construction, as long as there are other way's to build
a NU's easilly, let's be honest, I think the time of the '14 IC has passed.
e) And the real toughy -- come up with a layout that requires a minimum of
manual wiring. I don't include required resistors and capacitors in this
category -- just plain old from-point-to-point wiring.
Yep.
Just my 1 3/4's cents worth, + my (dennison) extra penny.
Zoz
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