Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #10447



To: "Mark W. Tilden" mwtilden@math.uwaterloo.ca, beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "Dennison Bertram" dibst11+@pitt.edu
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 2000 14:02:26 -0800
Subject: [alt-beam] reconfigurable Robots: Severing the master/slave bicore connection.


Here's another one from the archives of my old notebook:

reconfigurable robots:

If you check out the circuity behind the Stryder type robot, or for the
Master/slave bicore arrangement you'll notice that the bicores are
influenced by other bicores. In particular, a resistor from one bicores
output is used as the input for the another bicore. The first thing one
should be thinkng about when your thinking about modular robots in beam is,
how to replace that resistor. After all, that's the only connection between
the two bicores, with out them, the bicores keep doing their own thing.
(NOTE: Mark Tilden comments that one of the advantages of BEAM is it's
hardyness. Specifically in his nervous net's he comments how much more
robust they are than circuits. He states that computer robots are 'one snip'
away from failure. I'd like to point out, that the earlier microcore was
also. If you broke any connection in that chain, your bot was dead. However
if we look at Master/slave arrangements, you'll notice that this is no
longer true. Snip! the connection between the two bicores, and while their
actions may not be as cordinated as you would like, the bot keeps ticking.
Of course you could always snip the bicore...) Anyway, The idea behind
makeing reconfigurable robots is replacing that resistor, or somehow makeing
it so the resitor isn't a physical connection. How would one go about doing
this?

Well back in the day I had several idea's which I never tested (I will
this summer) but they are as follows:
1. Electrical Contact plates
2. Magnetic Coils
3. CDS cells and small lights
4. IR LED's and IR Photodiodes

I'm sure there are other ideas, sonar etc... Heat & thermistors, but you get
the idea. Instead of building a frame you could build small 'units' perhaps
a containing a battery, gearmotor, leg, and a bicore. Let this unit flail
around like a turbot in a RJP until it comes across another simmilar robot,
let magnets connect them together strongly, and suddenly depending on their
connection on robot's bicore begins to influence the other's bicore.
Suddenly the two peices begin to operate together. Like tildens other
turbots, if the connection worked poorly they would pull themselves apart,
if it was benificial they would start doing their thing. Get the idea? Think
about the things that could be put together. Comments?

dennison

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