Photovores 2

Creator: Mike Vidal
Found at: Solarbotics
Bot name: ??????
Description: Mike Vidal has been busy getting this photovore together. It seems to be arranged inside a strong central ring, giving it symmetry and strength.

Creator: Miller
Found at: Solarbotics
Bot name: BURT 2
Description: Miller's Big Ugly Rubber Tire (BURT^2) photovore that likes to roll over things. More accurately (from the specs Miller gave me that I just recently found), BURT squared uses two twin rails of two calculator cells for 5 volts to power up a pair of 5.5 volt 47000 uF computer memory backup capacitors. It uses a twin HBS (happy birthday singer) solarengine drive, with 3.3 kohm bias resistors. The drive train consists of a pair of modified oven-timers powered by recycled 5-pole pager motors, mounted on a PCB/brass tubing & stainless steel wire chassis.

Creator: Scott Martin
Found at: Solarbotics
Bot name: Popcan Mosher
Description: Scott Martin keeps churning out very nice quality BEAM bots. Here, he has what he calls a Beer (oops!) Popcan Mosher that has a defensive behavior. This photovore is built out of two standard FLED Type-1 Solarengines, plus the addition of photoresistors that affect the bias resistance in the Solarengine. This makes his Mosherbot run around the light pool until it comes straight up to the edge of the light pool, where it then slows down and waits. When another robot comes near, it upsets the balance of the photoresistors, and it attacks it with a very energetic jump. This is a great example of an emergent behavior out of a simple robot.

Creator: Miller
Found at: Solarbotics
Bot name: MBa 2.0
Description: Miller's BEAM soccer robots - the MBa 2.0. They're standard photovores, but have an additional solarengine that makes the critter spin around when a metal ball reaches the end of the throat at the front. Miller says there's about one shot a day with two soccer players per team. Makes for a long game... From Miller's "Robot Resume", here are the specs: Solar cells - twin strings of 9 minicells; 2 x 4.6 volts nominal. One subordinate string of 10; 5.1 volts nominal. Power storage shared between 2 1500 uF 16 volt capacitors, and 1 47000 uF for the subordinate string. HBS Solarengine (Type-1), with secondary discharge engine. Drive train consists of 5-pole pager motors directly contacting the surface on a PCB chassis.

Creator: Mark Tilden
Found at: Solarbotics
Bot name: BEAMant
Description: A very adept light seeking photovore robot. based around a "Happy Birthday Singer" chip found in some greeting cards. These critters form the basis of a robot hive Mark observes in the Robot Jurassic Park. He's found that these robots can develop cooperative strategies and produce very interesting behaviors in groups. The time-lapse footage of these robots is really something to see. Construction is based around a thin PCB chassis where a pair of recycled pager motors have been used for motivation. The neck of the robot carries a string of 10 photodiodes that produce between 3 and 5 volts to the system.

Creator: Chiu-Yuan
Web Site: Chiu-Yuan Fang's BEAM Robotics
Bot name: Photovore
Description: Info and a tutorial on how to build this photovore on Fang's web site.

Creator: Brian
Web Site: Brian's BEAM Page
Bot name: ??????
Description: After finishing M-squito I decided to do a little experimenting. This next bot was an attempt to make a bot with a low profile, and except for the capacitor, I think I accomplished that. The bot stands a mere 3/8" tall from ground to the solar cell.

Creator: Brian
Web Site: Brian's BEAM Page
Bot name: M-squito
Description: My first scratch built photovore, M-squito, was built out of a freeform photopopper circuit, two pager motors and a clip of some sort that I found in my desk. It proved that I could actually build a photovore not from a kit. It was basically a motivational thing really saying, "You can do it!". I am yet to finish the sensors I started (the springy things under each "leg").

Creator: Steve
Web Site: Steve's Page
Bot name: ??????
Description: ??????

Creator: Jim
Web Site: Jim's BEAM Page
Bot Name: Ant
Description: Ant is another variation on the photopopper circuit. Man, I think the possibilities are endless with reconfiguring this design. The two squares of color on the cell cover surgery scars. Never glue down your cells until you are sure your bot works perfectly!

Creator: Jim
Web Site: Jim's BEAM Page
Bot Name: Solarbotics Photopopper Kit
Description: This is the kit from Solarbotics. Like many others I was introduced to BEAM through this kit. It is a great kit, easy to build, and works beautifully. The thin flexible PCB makes for a very pleasing shape, just look at that profile!

Creator: Paul Beckingham
Web Site: Paul Beckingham
Bot Name: Photovore 2
Description: A 4Nv, 4-legged, articulated binary photovore. Built with almost no extraneous or structural parts. Strange, but a pleasure to watch crawl around.

Creator: Paul Beckingham
Web Site: Paul Beckingham
Bot Name: Photovore 3
Description: A 2Nv photovore hill-climber. Built with mercury tilt switches to detect slopes, and a DIP switch block for experimental configuration.

Creator: Paul Beckingham
Web Site: Paul Beckingham
Bot Name: Photovore 4
Description: A copy of an idea of Michael Millette's, converting an old Microsoft Mouse into a photovore.

Creator: Paul Beckingham
Web Site: Paul Beckingham
Bot Name: Photovore 1
Description: A 2Nv photovore, built from scratch. Very strong and active.

	Creator: Mike Vidal Found at: Solarbotics Bot name: ?????? Description: Mike Vidal has been busy getting this photovore together. It seems to be arranged inside a strong central ring, giving it symmetry and strength.
	Creator: Miller Found at: Solarbotics Bot name: BURT 2 Description: Miller's Big Ugly Rubber Tire (BURT^2) photovore that likes to roll over things. More accurately (from the specs Miller gave me that I just recently found), BURT squared uses two twin rails of two calculator cells for 5 volts to power up a pair of 5.5 volt 47000 uF computer memory backup capacitors. It uses a twin HBS (happy birthday singer) solarengine drive, with 3.3 kohm bias resistors. The drive train consists of a pair of modified oven-timers powered by recycled 5-pole pager motors, mounted on a PCB/brass tubing & stainless steel wire chassis.
	Creator: Scott Martin Found at: Solarbotics Bot name: Popcan Mosher Description: Scott Martin keeps churning out very nice quality BEAM bots. Here, he has what he calls a Beer (oops!) Popcan Mosher that has a defensive behavior. This photovore is built out of two standard FLED Type-1 Solarengines, plus the addition of photoresistors that affect the bias resistance in the Solarengine. This makes his Mosherbot run around the light pool until it comes straight up to the edge of the light pool, where it then slows down and waits. When another robot comes near, it upsets the balance of the photoresistors, and it attacks it with a very energetic jump. This is a great example of an emergent behavior out of a simple robot.
	Creator: Miller Found at: Solarbotics Bot name: MBa 2.0 Description: Miller's BEAM soccer robots - the MBa 2.0. They're standard photovores, but have an additional solarengine that makes the critter spin around when a metal ball reaches the end of the throat at the front. Miller says there's about one shot a day with two soccer players per team. Makes for a long game... From Miller's "Robot Resume", here are the specs: Solar cells - twin strings of 9 minicells; 2 x 4.6 volts nominal. One subordinate string of 10; 5.1 volts nominal. Power storage shared between 2 1500 uF 16 volt capacitors, and 1 47000 uF for the subordinate string. HBS Solarengine (Type-1), with secondary discharge engine. Drive train consists of 5-pole pager motors directly contacting the surface on a PCB chassis.
	Creator: Mark Tilden Found at: Solarbotics Bot name: BEAMant Description: A very adept light seeking photovore robot. based around a "Happy Birthday Singer" chip found in some greeting cards. These critters form the basis of a robot hive Mark observes in the Robot Jurassic Park. He's found that these robots can develop cooperative strategies and produce very interesting behaviors in groups. The time-lapse footage of these robots is really something to see. Construction is based around a thin PCB chassis where a pair of recycled pager motors have been used for motivation. The neck of the robot carries a string of 10 photodiodes that produce between 3 and 5 volts to the system.
	Creator: Chiu-Yuan Web Site: Chiu-Yuan Fang's BEAM Robotics Bot name: Photovore Description: Info and a tutorial on how to build this photovore on Fang's web site.
	Creator: Brian Web Site: Brian's BEAM Page Bot name: ?????? Description: After finishing M-squito I decided to do a little experimenting. This next bot was an attempt to make a bot with a low profile, and except for the capacitor, I think I accomplished that. The bot stands a mere 3/8" tall from ground to the solar cell.
	Creator: Brian Web Site: Brian's BEAM Page Bot name: M-squito Description: My first scratch built photovore, M-squito, was built out of a freeform photopopper circuit, two pager motors and a clip of some sort that I found in my desk. It proved that I could actually build a photovore not from a kit. It was basically a motivational thing really saying, "You can do it!". I am yet to finish the sensors I started (the springy things under each "leg").
	Creator: Steve Web Site: Steve's Page Bot name: ?????? Description: ??????
	Creator: Jim Web Site: Jim's BEAM Page Bot Name: Ant Description: Ant is another variation on the photopopper circuit. Man, I think the possibilities are endless with reconfiguring this design. The two squares of color on the cell cover surgery scars. Never glue down your cells until you are sure your bot works perfectly!
	Creator: Jim Web Site: Jim's BEAM Page Bot Name: Solarbotics Photopopper Kit Description: This is the kit from Solarbotics. Like many others I was introduced to BEAM through this kit. It is a great kit, easy to build, and works beautifully. The thin flexible PCB makes for a very pleasing shape, just look at that profile!
	Creator: Paul Beckingham Web Site: Paul Beckingham Bot Name: Photovore 2 Description: A 4Nv, 4-legged, articulated binary photovore. Built with almost no extraneous or structural parts. Strange, but a pleasure to watch crawl around.
	Creator: Paul Beckingham Web Site: Paul Beckingham Bot Name: Photovore 3 Description: A 2Nv photovore hill-climber. Built with mercury tilt switches to detect slopes, and a DIP switch block for experimental configuration.
	Creator: Paul Beckingham Web Site: Paul Beckingham Bot Name: Photovore 4 Description: A copy of an idea of Michael Millette's, converting an old Microsoft Mouse into a photovore.
	Creator: Paul Beckingham Web Site: Paul Beckingham Bot Name: Photovore 1 Description: A 2Nv photovore, built from scratch. Very strong and active.