Making a robot from scratch in three days with hardly any previous knowledge of programming or electronics is quite a challenge, but the participants at CRACs the Art of Robotics workshop proved that it is possible.

We were all too busy working to gather any decent documentation of the results, but some of the material that we used during the workshop is available here. ..

BEAMs are robots that mimics characteristics and behaviors of natural organisms through simple electronics connected in manners that resemble nervous networks .

There are numerous BEAM types ranging from Sitters that typically just sit around and blink or beap to Fliers that, well, fly… The beam on the picture, is a photovore (it prays on light) from eBEAMuk.

As BEAMs provide their own energy source (usually through solar cells) and are extraordinarily robust they could be used to create interactive installations and environments that live for years without any maintenance, even in the outdoors.

One BEAM might have a relatively low impact but arrays (or flocks) of BEAMs, for example Beacons that transmit signals to other BEAMs and Pummers that emit light, could be used to create installations of arbitrary size. I’m currently researching if and how a flock of little BEAM creatures could be used to visualize water flow…

More:
eBEAMuk
Solarbotics
Wikipedia
Interview with the father of BEAMs Dr Mark Tilden aka the “Big God”.