The Library of Technomadics
BEHEMOTH
In 1983, I left Ohio on a "computerized recumbent bicycle" named Winnebiko to begin a career of technomadic publishing, then after the first 10,000 miles built a new machine that would let me write while riding. After another 6,000 miles, it was time for the mega-cycle... a 580-pound monster named BEHEMOTH. All three bike versions are described here.
Microship
After 9 years of pedaling around the US on geeky bicycles, it was time to port the whole adventure to water. The Microship project spanned a decade, with three different labs and multiple design revisions... at last yielding an amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimaran. This massive project was fueled by about 160 corporate sponsors and a team of brilliant geeks...
Nomadness
By the time the Microship was "done" in 2003, I wanted something more practical... large enough to live aboard with crew, piano, and lab. After a year with a rocketship 36-foot trimaran, I bought an Amazon 44 — a steel pilothouse cutter. With the intent of preparing for open-ended global voyaging, I cruised and lived aboard for 6 years while immersed in nautical geekery.
Datawake
In my sixties, it was time to move to the Dark Side... so I found a new owner for Nomadness and acquired a Vic Franck Delta 50. I now live aboard this floating lab in the San Juan Islands, with communications, virtual reality, underwater vehicle, piano, audio studio, data collection, machine shop, and deployable micro-trimaran for local exploration.
New Posts
This column showcases new additions with current dates, and may include articles about Bionode development, nautical geekery, digitizing, new toys, or other real-time activity.
This was an amazing experience… hanging out with fascinating people (Alan Kay, Thad Starner, Dean Kamen, and other highly creative notables), displaying my toys in an interesting setting, a well-managed show… like the ACM97 show four years earlier, it was wildly educational. The only artifacts that remain are the gorgeous photo above showing the Microship,…
The premiere issue of this wonderful UK magazine carried a short review of my book about the BEHEMOTH and Microship projects… Book review by Peter Eland Velo Vision — Issue #1 March, 2001 Many readers will remember Steve Roberts book Computing Across America, and no doubt other magazine articles about his amazing computer-equipped long-wheelbase recumbent,…
The long-term home for the bike, after 17,000 miles of adventure and hundreds of stage appearances in the years that followed, is the Computer History Museum in Silicon Valley. I love this place, and it’s truly worth a visit for lots of reasons besides BEHEMOTH… they have astounding treasures from all branches of the computer…
This huge drawing (done in ConceptDraw) was my snapshot of the system during the heyday of its development, and it even lived on the server with image-mapped links in some of the boxes, intended to become a graphic front-end to the documentation library. A few notes are below; you can click it for a big…
Note: the photo above is not a black spiny sea urchin… I did not get a chance to take a picture of the one who got me, nor any of his Cozumel brethren. This is a green one, Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis, whom we invited aboard for a visit and close examination one day in 2018. The black…
My second speaking gig on a Geek Cruise (after Perl Whirl and before Linux Lunacy) was in the western Caribbean aboard the 720-foot Ryndam in the Holland America Line. This was not only a week of deep immersion with Java geeks and a sort of broad circumnavigation of Cuba, but it resulted in a very…
Recent Archive News
Changes to the library are automatically shown here... whether newly scanned articles, digitized videos and movies, historical documents, or edits to existing material. June 23, 2025 item count: 1,095
I can already see how the winter is going to take shape, and it’s going to take a major exercise of will to get through it. “Next steps” bubble to the top of OmniFocus and get flagged, I make a first-pass approximation of stuff needed and load up the truck, then drive far away and…
It’s interesting to watch the etymological gestation of a neologism. Twice now, Sky has referred to the folks who mysteriously appear at just the right time to catch lines as dock angels, and thrice I have performed the service for others… feeling a tonnage-proportional measure of the same gratitude I know well from my own…
About a half-dozen times in the past 24 hours, the Polaris mobile-lab project has been reinforced. This is going to be wonderful tool, I think… not only to bring R&D; facilities within range of the system I’m trying to focus on, but also to add another nickel generator to the arsenal. A fairly comprehensive electronics,…
by Edward H. Roberts Clearwater and Tarpon Springs, Florida April, 1961 When I was nine, our family vacation to Florida in 1961 yielded a few reels of 8mm home movie footage, and this page presents two clips of general interest. I digitized them in 2020 with a Retroscan Universal (which I do as a business).…
As Maggie and I headed out from Columbus on the second half of the Miles with Maggie expedition (Winnebiko II), there was a short bit on the local Channel 6 news. Video digitized from VHS off-air dub via Time Base Corrector at Harbor Digitizing.
by Steven K. Roberts Nomadic Research Labs Santa Clara, California September 19, 1996 There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about. paraphrased (by Anomalous) from Anonymous Gizmology Attack The above quote, which brought an amused smile to my lips when I first saw it on Henry Cate’s humor…
Microship Store
I have an online store linked above for technomadic publications and cards, along with a few special items of historical interest. (This is in addition to the Microship eBay store offering an eclectic mix of gizmology, nautical geekery, and antiquities.)
1974 Homebrew 8008 System
In 1974, six months of geek obsession led to one of the first personal computers... a homebrew 8008 that is now on display in the Computer History Museum. The story of that machine is here, including complete schematics. This predated the computer kits that kicked off the personal computer revolution, and it was in daily use for years.
The Polaris Mobile Lab
I have occasionally needed a capable laboratory that is not constrained to a fixed location, so I built one into a 24-foot utility trailer. Featured in MAKE: Magazine, this is a detailed description that includes preparing the space, inventory storage, furniture, fixturing, and power.
Isabelle
I live aboard Datawake with this magical being, and have a massive backlog of photos and stories. In the meantime, this is just a teaser... this 7-year-old Russian Blue has a lot to do with my quality of life. Here's her high-tech litter box, with carbon filter and webcam:
Bionode
2025 Development project, a robust homelab and cognitive prosthesis built into a hand truck... with video production, AI, Home Assistant, and NAS.
You must be logged in to post a comment.