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Since then I have added material occasionally.
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BEHEMOTH
Manufacturer | Steven K. Roberts & friends
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Identification,ID | BEHEMOTH -
(Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine ...Only Too Heavy)
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Date of first manufacture | 1983-1991
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Number produced | -1
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Estimated price or cost | -
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location in museum | -
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donor | Steven K. Roberts
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Most text and images on this page are from Computer Museum History Center "CORE" Vol 2.1
Contents of this page:
Photo - BEHEMOTH
BEHEMOTH, the "Technomadic Adventure Platform" built by Steve
Roberts, traveled more than 17,000
miles before it found a new home.
After speaking at a Museum lecture on Sept 7, 2000, Steve Roberts presented
BEHEMOTH to The Computer
Museum History Center as a long-term loan
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The helmet features a Private Eye display, ultrasonic head-mouse sensor,
fluid heat exchanger and headset with
boom microphone.
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Placard
Architecture from handout by Steve Roberts
FROM BEHEMOTH By STEVEN K. ROBERTS
To MICRO5HIP
Since 1983, Steve Roberts has been a technomad, alternating between open-ended
periods of networked wandering and increasingly
ambitious
machine-building layovers. Though it began simply as the Computing Across
America high-tech solo bicycle adventure (expected to
last only a
year or so), the project gained momentum though the symbiosis of constant
media attention and increasing collaboration with
hundreds of
sponsors and volunteers. Unexpectedly, the tools and techniques of
nomadness became interested to a vast population of individuals
who yearn to
combine physical freedom with solid connectivity. "Once you move to
the Internet," Steve says, "your physical location becomes
irrelevant."
This book begins with a substantial overview of the computerized recumbent
bicycles, Winnebiko and BEHEMOTH, then describes system
design and early adventures with the Microships: amphibian pedal/solar/sail
networked folding micro-trimarans that will carry Steve
and his
partner, Natasha, through the next level of aquatic technomadness. In so
doing, it serves as the introduction to the whole family
of Nomadic
Research Labs publications that detail every aspect of this state-of-the-art
project, from engineering-level Microship internal
details to spirited
tales of prowling the world's backwaters with a boatload of gizmology.
Beyond all that, this publication is intended as a subversive statement
of what happens when passion, technology, freedom, romance,
and
adventure are blended into a single obsessive fantasy...
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"Art without engineering is dreaming.
Engineering without art is calculating." -Steven K. Roberts
To purchase your copy of FROM BEHEMOTH TO MICROSHIP:
- Bring this flyer to Computer Literacy Bookshops by March 31, 2001 and
get 20% off ($12)
San Jose Store: 2590 North First Street, #108 (at Trimble Road), 408.435.1118
Sunnyvale Store: 520 Lawrence Expwy, #510 (at Titan Way), 408.730.9955
- Order an autographed copy by mail @ $15 each, plus $3 for domestic
shipping and handling
Please fax your credit card order to 1.360.387.2429, or mail your order to
Nomadic Research Labs, 1313 Hagen Road, Camano Island, WA 98282.
Kindly make your check payable to: Nomadic Research Labs
Name: ______________________________
Address: ________________________________
Phone: ______________________ Email: ___________________
Quantity (at $18 each, including shipping within the continental U.S.):
Credit Card Number: |_| Visa |_| Mastercard ______________________
|
Special features
Historical Notes
This Artifact
This machine traveled 17,000 miles, including a trip between New York and Seattle
via New Orleans.
from Computer Museum History Center "CORE" 2.1
THE BEHEMOTH
BEHEMOTH, Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine ...Only Too Heavy
(1983-1991), L2003.2001, Loaned by
Steve Roberts
After speaking at a Museum lecture on Sept 7, 2000, Steve Roberts presented
BEHEMOTH to The Computer
Museum History Center as a long-term loan
In the early 1980s, feeling trapped in his suburban lifestyle, Steve
Roberts began to reevaluate his life. Roberts, a
freelance technical writer who had published articles in magazines such as
Byte, decided to tour the country on a
recumbent bicycle of his own design, the Winnebiko. During his trip,
Roberts made his living publishing stories
and writing a book as he went along, using his on-board Radio Shack TRS-80
Model 100 and a CompuServe
account to email his stories to publishers.
After redesigning the bike (as Winnebiko II), Roberts went off in an
entirely different direction, devising
BEHEMOTH (Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine ...Only Too Heavy): a
580pound, 105-speed recumbent
bicycle with a four-foot yellow trailer solar panel array that allowed the
incorporation of many more technologies
than on previous bikes. Roberts envisioned a project where a "computer and
communication tools rendered
physical location irrelevant." BEHEMOTH sported antennas for communication
over various amateur and public
radio networks, several networked computers (including an Apple Macintosh
and an Intel 386-based laptop), a
special keypad on each bicycle handle to allow typing, and a security
system that would
alert police if the vehicle were disturbed. The helmet is perhaps the most
futuristic-looking part of BEHEMOTH,
with its heads-up display, motion sensors for cursor control, lights, fluid
heat exchanger to keep the head cool,
and audio system. A complete feature list is shown below.
Roberts logged over 17,000 miles on BEHEMOTH and gave hundreds of radio,
television, and print interviews
over the several years he was on the road. This wide exposure points to
BEHEMOTH as an important milestone in
the integration of technologies for recreational use, as well as a highly
visible artifact of early wireless mobile
networking. Roberts retired BEHEMOTH to begin a new project called the
Microship.
INTEGRATED EQUIPMENT
Console (forward enclosure under fiberglass hood)
-
Macintosh 68K (control GUI and primary workspace)
- Bicycle Control Processor (FORTH 68HC11)
- Ampro 286 DOS platform for CAD system
- Toshiba 1000 repackaged laptop for scrolling FAQ
- 80 MB hard disk space
- Audapter speech synthesizer
- Speech recognition board
- Trimble GPS satellite navigation receiver
- Audio and serial crosspoint switch networks (homebrew)
- PacComm packet TNC (VHF datacomm)
- MFJ 1278 for AMTOR (HF datacomm)
- Diagnostic tools (LED matrix, DPM, etc)
- Handlebar keyboard processor
- Ultrasonic head mouse controller
- Icom 2-meter transceiver
- Radiation monitor
- Cordless phone and answering machine on RJ-11 bus
- Folding 6-segment aluminum console
- Fiberglass fairing
RUMP - Rear Unit of Many Purposes (white enclosure behind seat)
- Stereo System (Blaupunkt speakers, Yamaha 18W amp)
- 10 GHz Microwave motion sensor (security)
- LINGO physical motion sensor (security)
- Rump Control Processor (FORTH 68HC11)
- Audio crosspoint network, bussed to console
- Ampro DOS core module for heads-up display
- LED taillight controller
- Motorola 9600-baud packet modem for backpack link
- 7-liter helmet-cooling tank and pump
- Personal accessory storage
- Air compressor for pneumatic system
- 15 amp-hour sealed lead-acid battery (1 of 3)
Helmet
- Reflection Technology Private Eye display
- Ultrasonic head-mouse sensors
- Helmet lights (2)
- Life Support Systems heat exchanger for head cooling
- Setcom headset with boom microphone
SPARCPACK (aluminum case atop RUMP)
- Sun SPARCstation IPC with 12MB RAM and 424 MB disk
- Sharp color active-matrix display
- Motorola 9600-baud packet modem
- 10-watt solar panel
Trailer (WASU - Wheeled Auxiliary Storage Unit)
- 72-watt Solarex photovoltaic array (4.8 Amps at 12V)
- Qualcomm OmniTRACS satellite terminal
- Ham Radio station:
- Icom 725 for HF
- Yaesu 290/790 for VHF and UHF
- AEA Television transceiver
- Audio filtration and Magic Notch
- Antenna management and SWR/power meters
- Automatic CW keyer
- Outbacker folding dipole antenna on yellow mast
- Dual-band VHF/UHF antenna
- Telebit CeIIBlazer high-speed modem
- Oki cellular phone, repackaged and integrated
- Telular Celjack RJ-11 interface
- Credit card verifier for on-the-road sales
- Trailer Control Processor (FORTH 68HC11)
- Audio crosspoint network, bussed to console
- Bike power management hardware
- Two 15 amp-hour sealed lead-acid batteries
- Security system pager
- Canon bubble jet printer
- Fluke digital multimeter
- Mobile R&D lab, tools, parts, etc.
- Makita battery charger (for drill and flashlight)
- Microfiche documentation and CD library
- Camping, video, camera, personal gear
- Fiberglass-over-cardboard composite structure
- High-brightness LED taillight clusters
Bike and Frame-Mounted Components
- Custom recumbent bicycle
- 105-speed transmission (7.9 - 122 gearinches)
- Pneumatically-deployed landing gear
- Pneumatic controls, pressure tank, air horn
- Hydraulic disk brake
- Under-seat steering
- Handlebar chord keyboard
- CD player
More thorough details, along with information about Roberts' Microship
project, may be found on the Nomadic
Research Labs website: http://www.microship.com
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Updated June 26, 2001