Re:This is not especially interesting (Score 3, Interesting)

To all who think this is a particularly "analog" device, I'd like to point out that in the "intro" video clip, the ending words are:

So, that's pretty cool for a hundred buck robot with no gyroscope, the brain of a calculator and two chips inside, one, the Hitachi motor driver based upon nervous network control technology, and two, a dedicated sound processor based on a 4-depth stack modified PIC20 and 12K of assembler code.

(see also http://groups.yahoo.com/group/beam/message/41592 )

This is a radio controlled toy that is run by a microcontroller (the PIC20) using 12Kb of programming. Yep, good old software, the bane of the BEAMworld.

The motor driver chip no doubt is a variation on Tilden's "adaptive h-bridge design", but that is about all of the "nervous net technology" that is being used - heck, the motors in all the other "robots" are analog but no one goes around claiming how they are so special...

I am going to buy one simply because it is a lot of "stuff" for relatively little money. However, having been the BEAM Heretic for 7 years now, I take all the the exaggerated claims with the same tablespoon of salt I usually do.

Old quote: Digital is just really fast analog.

Zoz
hogfather@no spam earthlink.net