Unlike most robots, this Beam robot is solar-powered, and does not have an off switch. Optical and touch sensors give the palm-sized Photopopper light-seeking and obstacle-avoiding behavior. This robot doesn't use a microprocessor or computer "brain", making it straight-forward and easy to construct and tune. Almost every BEAM creature makes use of a circuit called a Solarengine. This is a circuit that digests the energy from a solar cell and turns it into bursts of motion. The Photopopper uses two Millerengine Solarengines, one for each motor. Controlling which circuit fires makes the Photopopper track light.
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