4 ms·

Lego logic gates and mechanical computing

124 points by pcr910303 7y ago

jpm_sd 7y ago
For those of you who remember this when it was "the 2004 slashdot phenomenon", the newer additions include powered (motorized) rod logic, and rotational logic. https://www.randomwraith.com/blog.html https://www.randomwraith.com/blog.html
jefft255 7y ago
Makes me think about NASA’S idea to send a purely mechanical rover to Venus, because no computer ca resist the heat for any serious amount of time: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6933 https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6933 I hope this takes off!
- rtkwe 7y ago
  I can see how you control somewhat and send signals back what I don't really get is how they'll do instrumentation and take readings more complex than stuff like wind speed and temperature.
  - jefft255 7y ago
    Good question, especially any kind of visual sensor
pepijndevos 7y ago
This is super exciting, but I find the website honestly quite hard to look at. Looking forward to someone building a larger system with this. Or... a Yosys backend?
- c22 7y ago
  I don't have a website for it, or even any photos (there are likely non-digital photos in a drawer at my parent's house) but I built several lego-pneumatic calculating machines in the 90s, culminating in a pneumatic rubik's cube manipulator and a couple walkers where all the movement was controlled via air-logic. I was inspired by the hydraulic systems my dad used to work on on large boats. Basically, I'm sure there's larger lego-logic systems out there somewhere. Here, I found an interesting one [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYi9sJkS19Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYi9sJkS19Q
choeger 7y ago
Wow. Nice! How long until someone applies this to Ben Eater's 8-bit computer? What size would such a device take?
- naringas 7y ago
  I think its size would boggle our minds the megaprocessor[1] is built from pure transistors [1] http://www.megaprocessor.com/index.html http://www.megaprocessor.com/index.html
- jpm_sd 7y ago
  https://monster6502.com/ https://monster6502.com/
thepete2 7y ago
Here's a 3d printable logic gate that can be reconfigured https://www.ims.uni-hannover.de/3dprintlogic.html https://www.ims.uni-hannover.de/3dprintlogic.html
codesushi42 7y ago
We need a Babbage Difference Engine made out of Legos.
- jhbadger 7y ago
  https://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/1265-lego-difference-engine.html https://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/1265-lego-dif...
- cr0sh 7y ago
  Here ya go: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/BabbageEngine.html https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/BabbageEn... If you google "Lego Babbage" or similar, his machine seems to be something of a phenom...
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
naringas 7y ago
how about a rotational flip flop?

124 points by pcr910303 7y ago

For those of you who remember this when it was "the 2004 slashdot phenomenon", the newer additions include powered (motorized) rod logic, and rotational logic. https://www.randomwraith.com/blog.html https://www.randomwraith.com/blog.html

jefft255 7y ago

Makes me think about NASA’S idea to send a purely mechanical rover to Venus, because no computer ca resist the heat for any serious amount of time: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6933 https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=6933 I hope this takes off!

rtkwe 7y ago
I can see how you control somewhat and send signals back what I don't really get is how they'll do instrumentation and take readings more complex than stuff like wind speed and temperature.
- jefft255 7y ago
  Good question, especially any kind of visual sensor

pepijndevos 7y ago

This is super exciting, but I find the website honestly quite hard to look at. Looking forward to someone building a larger system with this. Or... a Yosys backend?

c22 7y ago
I don't have a website for it, or even any photos (there are likely non-digital photos in a drawer at my parent's house) but I built several lego-pneumatic calculating machines in the 90s, culminating in a pneumatic rubik's cube manipulator and a couple walkers where all the movement was controlled via air-logic. I was inspired by the hydraulic systems my dad used to work on on large boats. Basically, I'm sure there's larger lego-logic systems out there somewhere. Here, I found an interesting one [0] [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYi9sJkS19Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYi9sJkS19Q

choeger 7y ago

Wow. Nice! How long until someone applies this to Ben Eater's 8-bit computer? What size would such a device take?

naringas 7y ago
I think its size would boggle our minds the megaprocessor[1] is built from pure transistors [1] http://www.megaprocessor.com/index.html http://www.megaprocessor.com/index.html
jpm_sd 7y ago
https://monster6502.com/ https://monster6502.com/

thepete2 7y ago

Here's a 3d printable logic gate that can be reconfigured https://www.ims.uni-hannover.de/3dprintlogic.html https://www.ims.uni-hannover.de/3dprintlogic.html

codesushi42 7y ago

We need a Babbage Difference Engine made out of Legos.

jhbadger 7y ago
https://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/1265-lego-difference-engine.html https://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/1265-lego-dif...
cr0sh 7y ago
Here ya go: https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/BabbageEngine.html https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/courses/BIB/BabbageEn... If you google "Lego Babbage" or similar, his machine seems to be something of a phenom...

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

naringas 7y ago

how about a rotational flip flop?