2001 Websites

As you probably know, I'm into electronics. I'm fascinated by every new thing, from the ingeniously simple to the awesomely complex. There's a lot out there, it's a good time to be alive.

I was searching for some information on a hobby of mine though, and I was incredibly disappointed at the results I found. I did a search for BEAM robotics, and it seems there hasn't been any progress made, not a single noteworthy thing, since 2003. Google's top search results don't include anything recent, apparently the most relevant links are nearly a decade old.

It's not like I'm searching for Hammer Pants here, this is robotics! I think it's reasonable to expect some recent news, developments, and articles. But apparently that's too much to ask. It's clear that BEAM was very popular from the late 90s-the early 2000s, but then it must have fallen off the face of the earth, because no one on the internet seems to be talking about the subject.

I'm going to do my part. I've got a little blog going dedicated to the art of BEAM robotics. It's a fascinating realm, full of hard hacks, clever design, optimization, and (generally) analog electronics. Beam bots meet the expansion of their acronym, including bionics, electronics, aesthetics, and mechanics. I created the beambots blog (name subject to change) to cover what's new in the field, even if I'm the only one doing any beam work and posting it to the internet.

I'll keep you updated if I find any post '01 BEAM resources. I'd love to find some myself. I hope everybody hasn't just moved on without me, and if you have... where are you? I want to know!

Whatever the case may be, I hope BEAM can hold on, if not online then off. It truly is an art practiced by masters.