Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #13378



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: "Ben Hitchcock" beh01@uow.edu.au
Date: Tue, 13 Apr 1999 09:05:42 +1000
Subject: Re: Ben's new bot?


My last reply to this must have been cut off by the list management system.
I can't say the word "SENSORED", can I, no of course not. Maybe it was to
do with the rant I had about a certain site that was adding lots of unwanted
links to my BEAM links page.

Anyway,
the vibra bot is still going exactly as I left it ie. charging up under my
desk lamp and letting out the occasional belch as it tries to make its way
towards the light globe. But I still can't figure out the mechanics! I see
mobile phones left on tables skittering about like little speed demons but I
can't get mine to reliably move in one direction or another! It's so
frustrating. The electronics work reasonably well - it chucks a hissy fit
when I turn the light out - but I can't get it to go reliably towards the
light.

Anyway I'll let the group know when I make some progress.

Ben

----------
>From: "Thomas Pilgaard"
>To: "Beam Mailing List"
>Subject: Ben's new bot?
>Date: Wed, 12 Apr 2000 7:32
>

> Hey Ben (Hitchcock),
>
> hows that new bot of yours coming along? It's been long since we've heard
> about that.
>
> - Thomas
>
> -----
> [This space non-intentionally left non-blank]



13379 Wed, 12 Apr 2000 19:23:51 -0400 RE: motor problems (nobody knows???) beam@sgiblab.sgi.com "Terrance (Terry) G. Bondy" Hi,

I made my first solarengine on the weekend with the very same circuit
(FLED) and experienced the very same problems. I did the poke the
capacitor around trick (using just hands) and found a location that made it
work properly. The value I used was small, the cap says 473, so what's
that 47nF? I only used it because it was handy (rescued I believe out of
an old FM stereo) - other values that are larger would work too. The
location that worked for me was from the positive supply (it was handy -
the ground should have worked equally well - they are effectively shorted
together at 1 kHz freq because of the big caps) to the base of the
2N3906. It was the second trial location that I tried - it made it work so
I didn't try to reason why it worked or if there was a better place to put
it. Making it work was the important thing. It pleased my 8-year old and
I had to get ready for a flight Sunday night. Hope it works for you too.

Terry

At 07:09 PM 4/11/00 -0400, you wrote:
>I am using the Flashing LED cuircuit that you can
>download the PDF for from Solarbotics.
>
>
>
>--- Wilf Rigter wrote:
> > There are some good SE tutorials but most describe a
> > specific SE and not the
> > general principles of Solar Engine design and how to
> > optimize for different
> > applications. This question has come up many times
> > on the list before, so a
> > search of the BEAM list archives should yield
> > valuable clues. Otherwise why
> > don't you tell us which SE you are using then go
> > through a mini SE circuit
> > analysis on-line and tap into some expert opinions.
> > Warning though, such
> > discussion can get quite detailed.
> >
> > regards
> >
> > wilf
> >
> >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: Aaron Letts [SMTP:beamlist@yahoo.ca]
> > > Sent: Monday, April 10, 2000 7:46 PM
> > > To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
> > > Subject: RE: motor problems (nobody knows???)
> > >
> > >
> > > > Otherwise you will have to tweak the SE
> > components
> > > > to match the motor specs and learn a lot about
> > SEs
> > > > in the process.
> > >
> > > Wilf:
> > >
> > > Where can I go to find info that would help me on
> > > this?
> > > Thanks again,
> > >
> > >
> > > Aaron
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>_______________________________________________________
>Do You Yahoo!?
>Get your free @yahoo.ca address at http://mail.yahoo.ca

----------------------------------------------------
Terry Bondy | Ph: 1-905-830-1032
760 Sunnypoint Dr. | e-mail: bondys@netrover.com
Newmarket, ON |
Canada L3Y 3A1 |

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