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Bots / The Ultimate Palm Robot/ Mukhar & Johnson / 222880-6 / Chapter 1

4 The Ultimate Palm Robot

its programming. A simple moving robot might sense edges, colors,
shapes, or paths in order to stay on the right track, though, and
some robots can use temperature, light, motion, or odor sensors in
order to carry out their job. We’ll talk in Chapter 8 about possible
sensor enhancements you can add to your Palm Robot.

The Wide, Wide Worlds of Robots

For the last 20 years or so, researchers and hobbyists have been developing
robots and pushing forward the boundaries of this fledgling science. At the
university level, small-scale research projects abound. Here we’ll tell you
about some of the most interesting robots.

BEAM Robotics
BEAM stands for biology, electronics, aesthetics, and mechanics. The behav-
ior of BEAM robots is driven by their electronic circuitry, with no program-
ming required. They’re intended to be autonomous; that is, once activated,
they should be able to operate for relatively long periods of time without out-
side intervention. For that reason, they are usually solar-powered devices.
Some of the earliest work in BEAM robotics was done at Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. You can read more about these robots at www.ai.mit
.edu/people/brooks/projects.shtml.

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