I was going to say the same thing. I read "Junkbots, Bugbots, and Bots on Wheels" years ago when I was getting started in electronics. It's also how Solarbotics got started.
Incredible book. Got me building simple neural nets out of 74AC240s rather than code before it was cool. Plan to build a 5 motor walker yet this year for old times sake.
Interesting, I have seen simple neural circuits using opamps but not octal drivers.
Oh that's neat. But I think the BEAM here was open sourced in about '99 and was developed in the 80s.
I clicked on the article thinking it would be that. I got into electronics making little BEAM robot things from salvaged parts. BEAM robotics seems pretty accessible and has an interesting design ethos.
BEAM the VM seems like a great platform for BEAM the robot design philosophy. :-)
The combination could be "BEAM US" and the output for the service being up or down could be "BEAM US UP" and "BEAM US DOWN".
They where created more or less in the same "old days"