BEAM ROBOTICS AND NERVOUS NETWORKS

B.E.A.M. ROBOTS acronym for

BIOLOGY
ELECTRONICS
AESTHETICS
MECHANICAL

The aim is
· Use minimalist electronics
· Recycle & Reuse components out of techno scrap
· Solar power it if possible
 Some of the great children of this philosophy are…

Photovore - likes light. One of the simple beam bots (with legs)

• The brains used to control BEAM "life forms" are very

simple compared to the rats-nets of wiring and circuitry
in conventional robots.
• These brains, also called NERVOUS NETWORKS,
contain no microprocessors with many BEAM critters
having fewer transistors than a common radio.
 Nervous Networks

• The NERVOUS NETWORK is an

interconnection of basic elemental circuits
called the pulse delay circuits like neuron,
generating square wave and hence
functioning as an oscillator.
• The most significant characteristic of
nervous network is absence of
microprocessor and other complicated
circuitry to enable locomotion. The nervous network in
robotic limb control is simple and autonomous , and any
incorporated complex circuitry in the robot can be fully
dedicated to the actual purpose of the robot rather than
its locomotion.
 PROBLEMS IN CONVENTIONAL ROBOTS

• Autonomous legged creatures, to move and react effectively

within their environment, require precise synchronizing control
circuitry and the ability to adapt to new conditions as they arise.
• Until now, all attempts to create such a device have involved
elaborate arrangements of feedback systems utilizing complex
sensor inputs and extensive control and sequencing circuitry
hard-wired to one or more central processors.
• Such a robot is extremely complex and expensive to build,
even to accomplish very simple tasks. Moreover, due to the
complexity of such a device and its heavy reliance on a central
processing system power requirements are enormous, and a
relatively minor problem, such as injury to a limb, is likely to
cause total system failure. Such walking devices are accordingly
impractical for other than experimental or educational uses.
 APPROACH OF THE NERVOUS NETWORKS

• The nervous technology overcomes the

given problems and other disadvantages
by providing a completely different control
system approach.
• Rather than utilizing a central processor
to process sensor information and
responsively drive all mechanical processes,
the device of the robot utilizes a
reconfigurable central network oscillator
to sequence the processes of the devices limbs, each of
which is it autonomous. Once activated, each limb
sequentially executes its processes independent of the central
sequencer.
 APPLICATIONS OF NERVOUS NETWORKS

• The application of nervous networks in

robotics to nullify complex circuitry in the
control of the locomotion of the robot has been
achieved.
• A judicious distribution of the various types
of PNC's throughout the central sequencing
circuit and the limb control circuits will
integrate the various limb processes for
smoother performance, and will facilitate the use
and effects of many different types of sensors to
render the device fully autonomous.
• It will be apparent that a walking device embodying the nervous
network will have applications in many industries.
Such a walking device could patrol secured premises with a
video camera transmitting signals to a remote recorder; could carry out
cleaning and maintenance functions in inaccessible areas such as pipes,
or in hazardous areas such as nuclear reactors.
 ADVANTAGES OF THE NERVOUS NETWORKS

• The pulse delay circuit is very inexpensive and

all components are presently available "off the shelf".
Power requirements are very small.
• The control circuits simplify mechanical process
controls to mere pulse trains, requiring no
microprocessor, so that if a microprocessor is
utilized it can be virtually entirely dedicated to task
planning and information retrieval.
• The process controllers are self-stabilizing, and
since each limb is essentially autonomous it is
unnecessary to hardwire all actuators and sensors to the central torso;
moreover, if a limb is damaged or malfunctions it can be removed from the
sequence automatically, without affecting the central sequencing processes
or the operation of any other limb.
 FEATURE OF THE B.E.A.M ROBOTICS

• The future of BEAM is

brighter as a clear sky sun.
From a state of hobby it
will emerge as a branch of
study.
• New walking mechanisms
touch and vision systems,
and encrusted robots with
photodiode scales are some
recent innovations.
• Swarms of B.E.A.M. bots could cut, vacuum your home and
workplace (picture a colony of dung beetles wrangling dust
bunnies), scrub out toxic chemical tanks, hunt down insect pests,
re-seed the rain forest, and terrify the cats, dogs, and kids in
your neighborhood. The possibilities are endless.
THANK Q