Introduction
First off, you should know that BEAM Robotics is a research and education organization dedicated to the
promotion and construction of unorthodox robots and gizmos for fun and real world applications. This kit
is designed as an entertaining and easy starting point for those who wish to explore the principles of
BEAM philosophy.
The components in this kit are the bare necessities for achieving mechanical movement from the
universe’s most common energy source - LIGHT. This means no dependancy on batteries, adaptors,
wind up springs, or even you for it to continue "living" its merry life. With careful and sturdy construction,
you should be able to pick up your BEAM critter in 20 years and say "Look! It’s still working!" This kit is
the Type-I solarengine, which depends on a voltage-sensative trigger, meaning once it stores enough
power, it triggers. The other types of solarengines are time interval based (Type-II), and "charge-curve
differentiated" (Type-III).
Once the kit’s electronics are assembled, you can move on to find applications for your solarengine, like
a solar dragster (solaroller), a bidirectional robot (SYMET), or anything else you’d like to apply battery-
less motion to. Advanced applications of this kit include solar rope-climbers, high & long jumpers,
aquavores & photovores (light-seeking robots). Other bizarre applications are solar-powered name-tags,
flag-wavers, baby satellite dishes, and ornament turners. Go wild and find your own applications to add
to this list.
Finishing this kit will mean that you have achieved several significant tasks:
A basic understanding of transistors, resistors, capacitors, and solar cells
Recognition of fundamental motor drive systems
How to solder electronic components onto a printed circuit board (PCB)
How to get your partner to hold components together while you burn their fingers with a soldering
iron.
In other words, you should have fun assembling something that moves by itself while we try to sneak
educational things into your head.
The kit should contain the following goodies:
1 - Motor/cassette mechanism
1 - PN2222 transistor (small black thingy with 3 leads)
1 - 1381 voltage detector (another slightly bigger black thingy with 3 leads)
1 - Diode (another tiny cylindrical thingy with a lead out of each end)
1 - C2 Power Storage Capacitor (0.33Farad, 2.5V maximum, the diameter of a pencil, 1” long)
1 - C1 Timer Capacitor (6.8µF electrolytic, looks like a small can with two leads)
1 - Solar Cell (the squarish solar-cell looking-thing, with circuit panel on backside)
1 - Length of wire to hook up the motor (if your motor doesn’t have wire already)
1 - Instruction book (well, of course, right?)
You will require:
- A soldering iron & electronics solder (not plumbing solder)
- A pair of snips, old scissors, or other metal-trimming device
- A pair of safety glasses
- Glue, be it from a hot-glue gun, epoxy, Superglue, or whatever
- A sense of humour. Otherwise, you’ll be finding this manual very strange.
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