Alt-BEAM Archive
Message #12991
To: BEAM beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: David Simmons devs@idirect.com
Date: Tue, 04 Apr 2000 00:14:29 -0700
Subject: [alt-beam] Re: Ambler and so on
He's nine, and don't let that stop you from building. It takes a long
time to get things right and Kyle has some real advantages with moving
into BEAM Robotics that you don't see by just reading this list.
Kyle learned how to read by first learning how to read and understand
circuit drawings. He has had a real difficult time in school over the
past few years and electronics is the one thing that I have found that
holds his interest and keeps him driven.
Kyle started out by taking VCR's and the like apart when he was six,
bread boarding circuits by seven and soldering them on pref. board just
after. What he is doing now has taken 3 1/2 years of constantly trying
and failing. That is hundreds of hours spent with schematic symbols,
drawings, beard boarding, soldering. It takes time, and BEAM is just his
latest addition. He is walking into it with a vast background of failure
and successes to draw upon.
Don't get discouraged, take on one simple project at a time and in a few
months you will surpass what Kyle is doing with ease.
I don't know what your current knowledge of basic electronics is but I
recommend picking "Getting Started in Electronics" by Forrest Mims III
(sp?). Long before Kyle entered BEAM he spent a lot of time working with
the circuits from that book and others from Radio Shack.
Don't give up, it takes a lot of effort and it is worth it!!!
Regards,
Dave
SkavenArmy@cs.com wrote:
>
> i really feel stupid..i cant get an led flasher to work im 17, and heres this
> kid whose 11(no ofense in any way) and is building robots left and
> right.....i think ill stick to munitions, paintball,and bikes/are/programing
12992 Tue, 04 Apr 2000 00:26:13 -0700 Server Problems BEAM David Simmons I just found out what is going on, my server is having some problems and
it keeps sending the mail over and over. It should clear up tomorrow. A
number of complaints have already be logged with the server.
Sorry,
Dave
12993 Tue, 4 Apr 2000 00:28:38 EDT Re: Server Problems beam@sgiblab.sgi.com SkavenArmy@cs.com n/p dude
12994 Tue, 04 Apr 2000 00:34:03 PDT Re: Ideas..... ~ 4 position sensor beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "sebastiaan van Vliet"
>From: Meabadboy@aol.com
>Reply-To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
>To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
>Subject: Re: Ideas..... ~ 4 position sensor
>Date: Sat, 1 Apr 2000 23:51:08 EST
>
>In a message dated 4/1/2000 3:44:38 PM Eastern Standard Time,
>sebastiaan_van_v@hotmail.com writes:
>
><< Go to a cheap shop and buy yourself a nice kitchen timer >>
>
>hey thanks for the idea ~ ill give that a try also..........
>
>But Im building this for a position sensor (see the attached photo)
>
That's the basic thing that came op in my mind too, but (purely
fhilosofhically) doesn't it work like car suspention? If a car bumps at a
certain interval it starts to amlify it's own suspention. If your bot is
correcting the "contact" you made, the bot will lift that side up, so the
next contact will be "on" etcetera, etcetera... Result (possibly) a bot that
acts like those dishes the chinese try to get turning on these little
sticks.
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