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 the boat project, dives with the ROV, photography, new toys, or other real-time content.
by Steven K. RobertsNomadic Research Labs For the first few months aboard, every attempt to fabricate a part involved clearing a tiny space on the bench, plugging in a funky desk light, and trying to find tools that I had just seen only minutes before. This was demoralizing, so I finally fixed it. This post is…
News from No Pressure (formerly Nomadness) Saturday, Nov 12 – 3:00 PM Friday Harbor to San Diego transit complete! NOTE: this was live-blogged during their voyage, and is in reverse sequence with the most recent posts at the top. Saturday, Nov 12 – 12:45 PM – Arriving San Diego Saturday, Nov 12 – 10:30 AM Final approach…
by Steven K. RobertsOctober 2, 2016 I catch myself doing it again: waiting for closure on some project before writing about it, an old magazine-freelancing habit. Something should actually be done before you publish the details, right? Of course, this isn’t a single-threaded project. Subsystems and components are interleaved and interdependent, the objectives evolve with technological…
Vic Franck Delta 50 (The Chief) in her early years One of the little treasures I found aboard the boat now known as Datawake was a binder of photos from her youth. I think these are from the late 1970s (she was designed by Lynn Senour and built in 1974), and they are quite a contrast…
Witnessing an inter-species encounter photo ©2016 by Steven K. Roberts (All rights reserved – please contact for large version and usage info) Now available as a greeting card! Every now and then, a photographer gets lucky… the right palette of colors, a self-organizing composition, and a sweet vignette all align at the moment of shutter-release. This was one of…
by Steven K. Roberts My dear friend Rebecca moved to Missouri in 2015, and in addition to her many family activities and house-renovation projects, she is exploring a new artistic realm. When she posted the image below of her pressure-washer work in the porch-mildew medium, I was inspired to write a bit of Artspeak to help solidify this emerging genre.…
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. September 6, 2022 item count: 1,060
I spent much of 1993 schmoozing for lab space for the Microship project while still doing media and speaking gigs about the bike, and this post to my mailing list is a perfect snapshot of that time between projects. The broader tale of that complete development decade is here. From April 1, 1993: Hello! This…
I fell in love with the Ultratorch butane soldering irons from Master Appliance after visiting them in Racine during the BEHEMOTH adventure, then incorporating two of them into my mobile lab. This article describes these lovely little tools… written for 73 Amateur Radio Today magazine. The Ultratorch — a Tool for Liberation by Steven K.…
This is my short review in 73 Magazine about a little book from the iconic Bob Heil, K9EID, packed with useful ideas and mini-essays about amateur radio. I was a columnist for the magazine at the time, writing about the bicycle projects, and every now and then would review a book or product for my…
This CNN piece is from a time when I had wrapped up the Winnebiko II adventure, and was embarking on a random speaking tour via a converted school bus. The Computing Across America book was finally published, and I was starting to think about the third bike version (the one that would come to be…
by Steven K. Roberts January 9, 1974 It is hard to put into words the blazing intensity of my obsession with microprocessors in late 1973. I close my eyes a half-century later and can still FEEL them, little gold/ceramic dual-inline packages exponentially more capable than the simple logic devices that had become my creative toolkit.…
by Steven K. Roberts updated September 14, 2022 currently 27 pieces Latest updates: Gabriel does an IDU run with a smuggled VR headset, we turn up a 1934 pulp sci-fi magazine with a story from the Pit of Immolation, and we have a chance to chat with Salvo the Unmerciful (author of Brutal Arrows). There…
Microship Store
I have an online store for my technomadic publications, along with a few special items of historical interest. (This is in addition to the Microship eBay store offering an eclectic mix of gizmology, collectibles, 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:
The Shacktopus Power Cart
A universal power system, built into a collapsible hand truck for use in emergencies.
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