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2000-09-06-nasaames
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Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 17:30:16 -0700
To: bale@linuxmafia.com
From: Dag Spicer <info@computerhistory.org>
Subject: BEHEMOTH BIKE Lecture at The Computer Museum History Center
The Computer Museum History Center presents
Steven K. Roberts, Consultant, Author & "Technomad"
speaking on "BEHEMOTH: From Bike Ride to High Tech Adventure"
(see details below)
Wednesday, September 6, 2000, 6:00 p.m.
at the NASA Ames Auditorium Room 201, Moffett Federal Airfield, Mountain
View, CA Reception to follow in Building 126 (Visible Storage Exhibit
Area).
Advance reservations required in order to be admitted to Moffett Federal
Airfield. RSVP instructions and directions appear below. The lecture
is free.
Background on the Speaker and his Talk
From 1983 to 1991, high-tech nomad Steven K. Roberts pedaled 17,000
miles around the United States on a computerized and networked recumbent
bicycle, the BEHEMOTH (Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine, Only Too
Heavy). Now, Roberts has retired the $1.2 million BEHEMOTH to build a
pair of canoe-based amphibian pedal/solar/sail trimarans known as
Microships. This fall, the bike goes on permanent loan to The Computer
Museum History Center; in early 2001, Roberts and his partner, Natasha,
will launch a multi-year expedition throughout the United States aboard
their tiny Linux-powered boatlets.
Prior to Steve's life as a technomad, he owned a consulting engineering
business in the Midwest and published three books on microprocessors and
industrial control system design. Steve's once-radical notion of
"nomadic connectivity" has become a trend as computer and communication
tools become ever smaller and more powerful.
During his talk, Roberts will present the BEHEMOTH on stage along with
other work in progress. The machines will be discussed in broad detail,
with close attention to the myriad conflicting design issues that drove
the design process. Integration of a multilayered computer system into a
tiny mobile platform created all sorts of interesting challenges, not
the least of which was maintaining effective physical interface while
dealing with a potentially fatal real-time physical environment.
Additional design effort blended the substrates themselves with wireless
network architecture, automated data collection and telemetry, solar
power optimization, user interface design, audio/video routing,
browser-based front end and communication tools, harsh-environment
packaging, well-behaved embedded control systems, and more.
Roberts will discuss the growing phenomenon of technomadics, the
blending of art and engineering, Internet collaboration, the critical
importance of generalists in the design environment, and human factors
issues in a complex multipurpose system, interspersed with tales of his
bike-ride adventures.
RSVP by Friday, Sept 1, 2000
RSVP to Wendy Ann Francis, 650-604-5205 or francis@computerhistory.org
Directions, Entry Requirements, etc.
From 101 North or South, take the 2nd Moffett Exit (Moffett Field) to
the main entrance. Immediately after passing through the Guard Station,
turn left onto Arnold Avenue. At Bush Circle, you will see the main
administration building (Building N200) directly ahead. Veer right
around the circle until you come to Building N201 (the Auditorium),
which is immediately behind Building N200. Please note the one-way signs
on base.
The Museum's collection is temporarily housed behind the gates of a
Federal facility and, as such, all guests must register in advance to be
admitted. Please provide your full name, affiliation and country of
citizenship. If you hold a Green Card, please let us know that in
advance. You may be required to show your picture ID upon entering the
base.
For more information, please check our website.
http://www.computerhistory.org/events/lectures/roberts_09062000
If this is a duplicate or undesired message, please e-mail Curator Dag
Spicer (spicer@computerhistory.org) to be removed from our regular
Computer History Lecture announcement list. Thank you.
--
Dag Spicer
Curator & Manager of Historical Collections
Editorial Board, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing
The Computer Museum History Center
Building T12-A
NASA Ames Research Center
Mountain View, CA 94035
Tel: +1 650 604 2578
Fax: +1 650 604 2594
E-m: spicer@computerhistory.org
WWW: http://www.computerhistory.org
Read about the latest History Center developments in
"CORE," our quarterly on-line newsletter:
http://www.computerhistory.org/events/core/1.2/
<spicer@computerhistory.org> PGP: 15E31235 (E6ECDF74 349D1667 260759AD
7D04C178)
"All of human history, adequately examined, in the end is the history of
better tools."
Ernst Kapp, 1877
S/V T12