Alt-BEAM Archive

Message #13610



To: beam@sgiblab.sgi.com
From: Jeffrey D Spears jspears@engin.umich.edu
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 01:21:44 -0400 (EDT)
Subject: Is Tricky-Dick BEAM?




Greetings BeamListers;

I caught wind of BEAM a couple of weeks ago and have been fooling
around at home ever since. You would be surprised at how well these
circuits fit into what I am learning at school RIGHT NOW.

My first circuit has a four transistor type solar engine driving a
motor gouged out from an old walkman. I saved that walkman so long
ago just for this reason! I have a silly little cardboard design
shaped and penciled like the Tricky-Dick 'Im not a crook!' on the
helicopter peace sign gesture thing. It spins one-quarter to
one-third revolutions every second or three. I don't have a solar
cell, so this project is fueled by a dead (7.8V) 9Vbattery and draws
less then 500uA.

This project is not a robot. It is more like a 'flag-waver' type
project. Now from my readings, I gathered that in the BEAM world,
flag-wavers are analogous to the HELLO WORLD program for
C-programmers. The first measurable point on the learning
curve---one might say.

I am new to the BEAM list--and the whole BEAM thing in general.
I read one fellow who asks whether or not BEAM robots are a subset
of robots--a specific type of robots, i.e. BEAM robots. Another
fellow wants a clear cut definition on exactly what constitutes
a BEAM Robot. This was the same fellow who seemed not to fancy the
idea of blinking LEDs being called BEAM. There were a couple of
Russian root word definitions which sounded pretty Orwellian to me.

My project is not a robot. If I had to put it into some sort of
pigeon hole, it would probably be a flag-waver. I built the thing
in order to experiment with BEAM methods. The flag is waving--or
in this case spinning, and it is doing so with VERY low current
draw and didn't cost a dime. I think its pretty cute--and intend
to get the thing off the breadboard and make permanent with solar
cell. If I show it to somebody and have a chance to explain what
is going on, then they think its pretty cool too. To someone walking
by, they probably think it is a flag waver and not think too much
more about it.

I haven't gotten to the home-brew Schmidt-triggers yet, but will
probably follow naturally!

So I asks: Is my little 'Tricky-Dick' a BEAM project?





Jeffrey D. Spears
University of Michigan
College of Engineering

``Double-E, can't spell gEEk without it!''
-Captain Gerald M. Bloomfield II, USMC
(my brother)

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