This is a simple walking robot made out of trash. It can climb small slopes and traverse rougher terrain like concrete. The only purpose of its life is to prove a walking device can be made from trash.
BEAM is simply an acronym for Biology, Electronics, Aesthetics, Mechanics. This field of robotics focuses on doing things in the simplest possible way. No microcontrollers here! Many BEAM devices are based off nature, hence the biology aspect. Electronics and mechanics make sense, but aesthetics is often misunderstood. Basically, if the robot looks good, without wires and tape hanging out all over the place, it often has a better chance at survival. Walker bot pretty much fails this aspect.
To read more on BEAM, see my science fair project.
How it Works
All this circuit does is move the motor back and forth. As you can see in the schematic, this is accomplished using a flip-flop. The two switches are on the bottom of the robot, and get bumped when the rear legs are at their limit. Nothing special here, practically every component is reused off old circuitry.