The Big Electronic Human Energized Machine, Only Too Heavy (BEHEMOTH)Hernandez, Daniela
"This MAC-Powered Bicycle from 1991 Will Make You Jealous"
Splinter, 2 February 2015 was an electronic bike weighing in at roughly 450 pounds. It was created by a multi-disciplinary team of volunteers led by Steve Roberts, a self-taught computer hobbyist.

History

The BEHEMOTH took three and a half years to build and it involved teams of engineers, machinists, bicycle experts, and chip-makers working in labs and shops across California including

Palo Alto Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

Milpitas Milpitas (Spanish for "little milpas") is a city in Santa Clara County, California, in Silicon Valley. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas, granted to Californio ranchero José Mar ...

, Santa Cruz,

Soquel Soquel (; Ohlone: ''Sokel'') is an unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Santa Cruz County, California, located on the northern coast of Monterey Bay. The population was 9,980 at the 2020 census. Geography Soquel is located a ...

Scotts Valley Scotts Valley is a small city in Santa Cruz County, California, United States, about thirty miles (48 km) south of downtown San Jose and six miles (10 km) north of the city of Santa Cruz, in the upland slope of the Santa Cruz Mounta ...

, and Mountain View. There were many technologies that were used in this project including but not limited to fiber-glassing, sheet-metal fabrication, machining,

FORTH Forth or FORTH may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''forth'' magazine, an Internet magazine * ''Forth'' (album), by The Verve, 2008 * ''Forth'', a 2011 album by Proto-Kaw * Radio Forth, a group of independent local radio stations in Scotla ...

software programming, harsh-environment packaging, networking, power management, embedded systems and audio processing. According to Roberts, the BEHEMOTH was to be a "collection of all the geeky tools that he could imagine, integrated into a limited user interface available while pedaling a bicycle".Roberts, Steven K.
"BEHEMOTH – Big Electronic Human-Energized Machine... Only Too Heavy (1989-1992)"
Nomadic Research labs, 2017 He envisioned a project where "computer and communication tools rendered physical location irrelevant."Roberts, Steven K.
"BEHEMOTH - Computer History Museum"
Nomadic Research Labs, March 2001 The BEHEMOTH logged over 17,000 miles while in service and demonstrated the integration of technologies for recreational use as a visible artifact of early wireless mobile networking. The BEHEMOTH was donated to the

Computer History Museum The Computer History Museum (CHM) is a museum of computer history, located in Mountain View, California. The museum presents stories and artifacts of Silicon Valley and the information age, and explores the computing revolution and its impact ...

, where it's currently on display. BEHEMOTH 6 26 2024 1

Specification

The BEHEMOTH bike contained many of the latest technologies of the time which were packed within the following three main equipment enclosures: * Console, a fiberglass-enclosed hood located on the front of the bike * RUMP (Rear Unit of Many Purposes) located behind the bike seat * Trailer, located at the back of the bike The console consisted of the following technologies: * Audio and serial switch networks allowing anything to talk to anything with simple commands * Bicycle Control Processor which was programmed using the

language * Cordless phone, answering machine and fax machine * Credit card verifier * Diagnostic tools including LED matrix * Fiberglass dome that was a satellite antenna which provided email connectivity * Folding 6-segment aluminum console * Handlebar keyboard on each handle * Icom 2-meter transceiver; dedicated Larsen half-wave antenna on seat * Immersive head-up display that was controlled by an Ampro

80286 The Intel 80286 (also marketed as the iAPX 286 and often called Intel 286) is a 16-bit microprocessor that was introduced on February 1, 1982. It was the first 8086-based CPU with separate, non- multiplexed address and data buses and also th ...

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

platform for CAD system *

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

68K which powered the

GUI The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...

* High Frequency (HF) datacomm *

VHF Very high frequency (VHF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) from 30 to 300 megahertz (MHz), with corresponding wavelengths of ten meters to one meter. Frequencies immediately below VH ...

datacomm *

Radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, vi ...

monitor * Speech recognition board * Speech synthesizer which kept the rider current with notifications from the Bicycle Control Unit * Toshiba 1000 repackaged laptop for scrolling FAQ *

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

satellite navigation receiver * Ultrasonic head mouse controller * 80 MB hard disk drive The RUMP consisted of the following technologies: * Air compressor * Brain-Interface Unit (Helmet) * Headset with boom microphone * Helmet-cooling tank and pump * Helmet lights and cooling system * Ear-jacks for stereo headphones * LED taillight switch-mode controller * Motion sensors for security *

Motorola Motorola, Inc. () was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, United States. After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, the company split into two independent public companies, Motorola ...

9600-baud 96 may refer to: * 96 (number) * one of the years 96 BC, AD 96, 1996, 2096, etc. Places * Ninety Six, South Carolina * Ninety-Six District, a former judicial district in the Carolinas, USA * Ninety Six National Historic Site, in Ninety Six, S ...

modem * Rear-view mirror on swiveled mount * Reflection Technology Private Eye display * Rump Control Processor (programmed using the FORTH language) * Sealed lead-acid battery * Sharp Color active-matrix display * Single LED taillight cluster * Solar panel * Stereo System * Sun

SPARCstation The SPARCstation, SPARCserver and SPARCcenter product lines are a series of SPARC-based computer workstations and servers in desktop, desk side (pedestal) and rack-based form factor configurations, that were developed and sold by Sun Microsystem ...

* Ultrasonic head-mouse sensors The trailer consisted of the following technologies: * Antenna to communicate over various amateur and public radio networks * Audio filtration and Magic Notch * Audio crosspoint network, bussed to console * Automatic CW keyer * Bike and Frame-Mounted Components * Bike power management hardware * Camping, video, camera, personal gear * Canon BubbleJet printer * CD player * Custom

recumbent bicycle A recumbent bicycle is a bicycle that places the rider in a laid-back reclining position. Most recumbent riders choose this type of design for ergonomic reasons: the rider's weight is distributed comfortably over a larger area, supported by ba ...

* Dual-band VHF/UHF antenna * Fiberglass-over-cardboard composite structure * Folding dipole antenna which enabled global coverage on the high frequency amateur radio bands * Fluke digital multimeter * Ham Radio station: * High-brightness LED taillights * Hydraulic disk brakes * Icom 725 for HF * Makita battery charger * Microfiche documentation and CD library * Mobile R&D lab * Pneumatic controls, landing gear, pressure tank, air horn * Qualcomm OmniTRACS satellite terminal * Security system pager to alert police if the bike were disturbed * Technomad Dreams * Telebit CellBlazer high-speed modem * Television transceiver * Telular Celjack RJ-11 interface * Trailer Control Processor (programmed using the FORTH language) * Two 15 amp-hour sealed lead-acid batteries * Under-seat steering * 72-watt Solarex photovoltaic array * 105-speed transmission

References

{{Reflist Electric cycle manufacturers Individual vehicles Vehicles introduced in 1983