20 Years of BEAM Technology

Dave Hrynkiw
November 18, 2009

A little while ago we received an email from an observant Mr. Pavel Ryabinkov, the site-admin of www.myROBOT.ru, who was asking us to relay a question to Mark Tilden:


Could you answer, can it be considered the official date of birth BEAM-robotics November 10, 1989?I was basing this question on the message Brian O. Bush:
"The first BEAM bot was "Solaroller 1.0".  It was invented Nov 10, 1989 in Waterloo, Ontario at the University of Waterloo MFCF Hardware Lab (after hours) by Mark W. Tilden. It was made from two dead calculators, two dead Phillips cassette mechanisms, and several parts from Laser-printer cartridges".
http://faq.solarbotics.net/oscillate.htmlI would also ask whether the celebrated 20th anniversary of BEAM-robotics, which will be held November 10, 2009. I would appreciate your attention to this matter.


To which, Mr. Tilden replies: Hi Pavel.
Why, yes it will be the twentieth anniversary of BEAM next Tuesday, Nov 10, 09. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. So busy at the moment it would have completely slipped by. Here's a little more background if you wish to post it somewhere.The first BEAM robot was Solarover 1.0, built after I attended an Oct 29, 1989 lecture by Rod Brooks at the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Dr. Brooks laid out his then-fashionable "Subsumption architecture" design for robot control that, although simpler than conventional AI, was still strongly computationally based. I remember impertinently asking "if simpler works, then how low could one go?". Dr. Brooks answered that he was certain more complexity was needed for machine competence than not. I had evidence otherwise, but didn't press the point.Fortune favoring the ready mind, that lecture just catalyzed concepts, skills, and designs I'd considered for many years. Are there minimal, elegant, efficient, low cost solutions to autonomous robot control? How long would it take to proctor real-world autonomous robots from "single cell" organisms to human form competence using guided design? In the months that followed, the tenements of "Biomorphic design" (the science behind the educational BEAM outreach) came about in a flurry of bot building, IEEE lectures, Usenet posts, and late-night contemplations.

An innate coffee addiction also helped significantly, blessings be to the bean.A well oxidized datestamp.Solarover 1.0 came about as an experiment to see just how inexpensively one could build a light-powered. light seeking autonomous rover from junk parts, and "trick" it to do simple floor cleaning as a result of its Braitenberg-inspired wanderings.

The first of many, I went on to build dozens of similar robots based on the primitive Solarengine neurons that year, which led to the BEAM International Robot games, international lectures, the 1992 Santa Fe Artificial Life conference (lecturing alongside Brooks), publications, books, TV, kits, Solarbotics, Los Alamos National Laboratory research, NASA, and a broad line of WowWee robots which have sold around 20 million units to date (not forgetting the thousands of hand-built robots by colleagues, enthusiasts, and steampunks internationally).

Biomorphic on a PCB, color-coded for rapid prototypingThis Christmas will see the presentation of the fast and funny Joebot humanoid on toy shelves worldwide. Walks, talks, sees, listens, all for less than the cost of a single Asimo-class Superservo. The Joebot prototype was entirely BEAM controlled before the behaviors were sampled into processor waves for mass manufacture: the Biomorphic Nervous network comprising less than 80 transistors in a symmetric, self-organizing array of custom-made printed circuit boards.

Best of all I have answers my research questions from what seems a lifetime ago.

A handful of transistors (with the added support of good friends and colleagues) are all you need.

Yes Virginia, there are beautiful, elegant solutions to making things move.

Twenty years.

Some compulsion required.

Sincerely,

Mark W. Tilden
Robotics Physicist
Nov 5, 2009


Inexcusably, I was very involved in getting ready for the STAO.org teacher's conference, and simply didn't get everything ready in time. That was a mistake, as it is BEAM that made us (funny that, as we usually are the ones who make BEAM). Still, here we are, a humble 20 years later after Mark's first design into building something simple, cool, and geeky.Let's celebrate! We've brought out the popular Junkbots and solar cell bundles. Not only that, but they and other popular Solarbotics kits and parts bundles are 15%-35% off until the end of the month!

A tip of the hat to Mr. Tilden - thanks for sharing your technology with the rest of the world. It's been a fun ride!

MORE POSTS

December 9, 2008
New Servo-liciousness

For far too long we've toiled under the merciless grip of the Gear Motor. But no more! For behold, there appears a trio of defiant servos to overthrow the tyrannical rule! *cough* But seriously forks, we have three new units available from Grand-Wing Servo. The 22140 GWS Modified Servo is a useful continuous rotation, full-sized unit. […]

November 26, 2002
More new stuff?

What's going on here? We haven't had this much new product come online so quickly since... since... well, let's just say "in quite a while!" Here's a book to add to your bookshelf: "Building Robot Drive Trains" by Clark & Owings. It's an excellent text on anything you need to know about putting power & […]

November 25, 2004
Solarbotics Now Accepts PayPal

Just in time for the Holiday season, Solarbotics is now able to accept PayPal payments through our web site. When you view your cart, you will now see the option to either make your purchase the usual method using your MasterCard or Visa, or the new option of proceeding with PayPal. Check the help page […]

May 2, 2017
New Product: LED Strips

A brilliant selection of new smart LED strips with various features. They are addressable, white RGB, or full-color RGBW, available on spools or per meter to add blindingly bright effects to your project. Some so bright, we had to shoot them at 1/4 power to avoid freaking out the camera exposure. 5V RGB Addressable Serpentine […]

1 2 3 252
Solarbotics Ltd Logo
Solarbotics has been operating for more than 25 years, bringing electronics know-how and supplies to both the electronics professional and hobbyist. We'll be happy to help you too!

Solarbotics, Ltd. is not responsible for misprints or errors on product prices or information. For more information, please see our Terms and Conditions.

Warning: This product contains chemicals known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm.
Please visit www.P65Warnings.ca.gov for more information. This item was manufactured prior to August 31, 2018.

Copyright © 2024 Solarbotics Ltd. All Rights Reserved
cart