4 ms·

Harry Porter's Relay Computer

43 points by 0x12 15y ago

0x12 15y ago
The only part where he cheated as far as I can see is the memory, that's a static RAM chip. All the rest of it is relays, it runs at 6(!) Hz. The video is quite amazing.
JoshTriplett 15y ago
Having seen it in action in person, I found the sound quite astonishing. It has noticeable patterns.
- 0x12 15y ago
  Yes, the video is mesmerizing. Reminds me of sticking an AM radio into the guts of a 6502 based computer in order to debug a crash to determine whether it was looping or had hit an illegal opcode (the sounds are noticeably distinct).
- JonnieCache 15y ago
  Rhythmically, it sounds exactly like a hippie drum circle. EDIT: To whomever downvoted me, I like hippie drum circles.
  - derleth 15y ago
    All together now: Load a word, to A, load a woord! Increment PC, incremeeent! Load the next opcooode, load it iiin! Oh, Loooord, now decooode!
- dkersten 15y ago
  The sound reminded me of piston contraptions in minecraft...
5hoom 15y ago
Tech specs: 5Hz clock cycle. 8 general purpose registers. 32kb of memory. 19 instruction non pipelined architecture. "not fast, but lights blink and it makes noise." Respect :)
sfaruque 15y ago
This might sound a little odd, but am I the only one who originally read that as Harry "Potter"? Also, the video is quite nice!
- plaes 15y ago
  nope ;)
- rbanffy 15y ago
  No. But I was wondering how an electromechanical computer would fit into that particular fictional universe.
  - amcintyre 15y ago
    I dimly recall trying to figure out how to make modern(ish) conveniences, like flashlights or televisions, under D&D rules. An imaginative person (i.e., not me) could probably use the "building technology on top of a magic-based world" theme as the basis for some good stories. Of course, there's probably some corollary of Rule 34 for fictional world-building, meaning there's already thousands of books out there with this theme. If anybody knows of some well-written ones, I'd be interested in having some new (good) fiction to read.
    - pjscott 15y ago
      The one that springs most immediately to mind is "Wizard's Bane" by Rick Cook, which involves somebody making a programming language out of small spells which could be used to make more complex ones, but the book wasn't actually that good. Much better written (and very popular) is "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality", which you can find here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M... ...Or in a variety of ebook formats from the author page. Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series never reveals much about the workings of its magic system, but it's made pretty clear that using magic effectively is mostly a matter of describing precisely what you want to happen, and closely akin to engineering. They're good books, and I like the idea of non-mysterious magic that you may have to debug before it works right.
Cushman 15y ago
The video is way cool-- makes me think of Intel's video for their 3D transistor where they shrank (who?) down to transistor size to demo it. Just imagine somebody shrunk to fit inside a CPU, giving exactly the same tour.
Achshar 15y ago
damn i saw it and the potter fan inside me woke up, i clicked it and.. bummer. but the vid was nice :)
Luc 15y ago
Here's another one (smaller, but more messy!): http://www.kilian-leonhardt.de/relaiscomputer/pics/pic4.htm http://www.kilian-leonhardt.de/relaiscomputer/pics/pic4.htm I also bought a neat little 4-bit relais computer from this person (Kilian Leonhardt). It's got just enough program memory to do a multiplication algorithm in.
MrRadar 15y ago
If you like this, check out Jon Stanley's similar but smaller Relay Computer Two[1]. The page gives a highly detailed explanation of how it all works including complete circuit and logic diagrams. [1]: http://www.electronixandmore.com/project/relaycomputertwo/index.html http://www.electronixandmore.com/project/relaycomputertwo/in...

43 points by 0x12 15y ago

0x12 15y ago

The only part where he cheated as far as I can see is the memory, that's a static RAM chip. All the rest of it is relays, it runs at 6(!) Hz. The video is quite amazing.

JoshTriplett 15y ago

Having seen it in action in person, I found the sound quite astonishing. It has noticeable patterns.

0x12 15y ago
Yes, the video is mesmerizing. Reminds me of sticking an AM radio into the guts of a 6502 based computer in order to debug a crash to determine whether it was looping or had hit an illegal opcode (the sounds are noticeably distinct).
JonnieCache 15y ago
Rhythmically, it sounds exactly like a hippie drum circle. EDIT: To whomever downvoted me, I like hippie drum circles.
- derleth 15y ago
  All together now: Load a word, to A, load a woord! Increment PC, incremeeent! Load the next opcooode, load it iiin! Oh, Loooord, now decooode!
dkersten 15y ago
The sound reminded me of piston contraptions in minecraft...

5hoom 15y ago

Tech specs: 5Hz clock cycle. 8 general purpose registers. 32kb of memory. 19 instruction non pipelined architecture. "not fast, but lights blink and it makes noise." Respect :)

sfaruque 15y ago

This might sound a little odd, but am I the only one who originally read that as Harry "Potter"? Also, the video is quite nice!

plaes 15y ago
nope ;)
rbanffy 15y ago
No. But I was wondering how an electromechanical computer would fit into that particular fictional universe.
- amcintyre 15y ago
  I dimly recall trying to figure out how to make modern(ish) conveniences, like flashlights or televisions, under D&D rules. An imaginative person (i.e., not me) could probably use the "building technology on top of a magic-based world" theme as the basis for some good stories. Of course, there's probably some corollary of Rule 34 for fictional world-building, meaning there's already thousands of books out there with this theme. If anybody knows of some well-written ones, I'd be interested in having some new (good) fiction to read.
  - pjscott 15y ago
    The one that springs most immediately to mind is "Wizard's Bane" by Rick Cook, which involves somebody making a programming language out of small spells which could be used to make more complex ones, but the book wasn't actually that good. Much better written (and very popular) is "Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality", which you can find here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_Methods_of_Rationality http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M... ...Or in a variety of ebook formats from the author page. Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series never reveals much about the workings of its magic system, but it's made pretty clear that using magic effectively is mostly a matter of describing precisely what you want to happen, and closely akin to engineering. They're good books, and I like the idea of non-mysterious magic that you may have to debug before it works right.

Cushman 15y ago

The video is way cool-- makes me think of Intel's video for their 3D transistor where they shrank (who?) down to transistor size to demo it. Just imagine somebody shrunk to fit inside a CPU, giving exactly the same tour.

Achshar 15y ago

damn i saw it and the potter fan inside me woke up, i clicked it and.. bummer. but the vid was nice :)

Luc 15y ago

Here's another one (smaller, but more messy!): http://www.kilian-leonhardt.de/relaiscomputer/pics/pic4.htm http://www.kilian-leonhardt.de/relaiscomputer/pics/pic4.htm I also bought a neat little 4-bit relais computer from this person (Kilian Leonhardt). It's got just enough program memory to do a multiplication algorithm in.

MrRadar 15y ago

If you like this, check out Jon Stanley's similar but smaller Relay Computer Two[1]. The page gives a highly detailed explanation of how it all works including complete circuit and logic diagrams. [1]: http://www.electronixandmore.com/project/relaycomputertwo/index.html http://www.electronixandmore.com/project/relaycomputertwo/in...