18 Sep
1998
18 Sep
'98
12:16 p.m.
Max Eskin wrote:
But what about the metal parts? Those aren't any
cheaper...but you're
giving me ideas.
There is an incomplete description about how to build a robot out of a
3.5" floppy drive. To qualify as a "classic" computer I'm guessing
that
one should use at least a 5.25" floppy and perhaps a 8" floppy. The
"metal" in that case is the drive structure itself.
I saw a show once on CNN about a guy at Lawrence
Livermore who is building robot bugs out of computer parts.
Actually that is Mark Tilden and he is working at Sandia National
Laboratory.
They are
powered by neural networks. He can even pull off a couple of legs
and they'll still work.
Actually, Mark call's them 'Nervous Nets' and they are something he
invented. They use about $0.50 in parts.
BTW, where do all of those researchers get
neural network chips?
You presume complexity, they are nothing but a couple of op-amps biased
into a non-linear feedback loop. Stop thinking digital, think analog,
its cheaper.
--Chuck