4 ms·

TCP/IP over Lego model train

82 points by llambda 15y ago

zrail 15y ago
So, token ring networking with a data-carrying physical token. Neat.
eduardoflores 15y ago
I would had called the post "TCP/IP on Rails"
mrushton14 15y ago
The article doesn't do much to explain how it uses TCP/IP which makes me wonder if it does at all?
lubutu 15y ago
It would be neater if it were a freight train carrying blocks for bits. Using a USB key isn't really 'Lego' enough.
- bradleyland 15y ago
  The trick would be loading/unloading the cars in a reliable and fast way. With a multi-cart train running in a loop, I probably wouldn't shoot for TCP/IP. Something like T1 would be a lot easier to implement because it uses very straight forward time-division-mutiplexing (serial by nature). You could use a simplistic encoding method like AMI, but your frames would have to be much smaller. The simplest T1 carrier frame is 192 data bits with 1 signaling bit, so you're looking at a pretty massive train. Because the physical train itself could serve as the frame boundaries, you could use 16 cars and carry two bytes per trip. The bit rate and latency are going to suck though ;)
huhtenberg 15y ago
Ah, damn. A USB stick. I was really hoping the train would be carrying actual SYNs, ACKs and DATA payloads using differently colored bricks :)
- chuchurocka 15y ago
  Yeah, it would be interesting to see this handle all of the different requests.
- qdot76367 15y ago
  The wonderful thing about nerd rage is that it gets stupid things done. I fully expect to see a response project of ACTUAL TCP/IP implementations via lego trains. Hell, multiple response projects, probably. And then someone will do IPX/SPX just to be cute.
  - jpdoctor 15y ago
    > I fully expect to see a response project of ACTUAL TCP/IP implementations via lego trains. Here's hoping that they also work their way up the OSI stack. I'm looking forward to seeing what "418 I'm a teapot" looks like from the LEGO http server.
    - mjwalshe 15y ago
      or even a full x.400 mail system linking to a real x.500 directory
Ecio78 15y ago
it reminds me of IP over Avian Carriers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers
- darklajid 15y ago
  You mean one of the humorous RFCs that the article refers to and links to already, right?

82 points by llambda 15y ago

zrail 15y ago

So, token ring networking with a data-carrying physical token. Neat.

eduardoflores 15y ago

I would had called the post "TCP/IP on Rails"

mrushton14 15y ago

The article doesn't do much to explain how it uses TCP/IP which makes me wonder if it does at all?

lubutu 15y ago

It would be neater if it were a freight train carrying blocks for bits. Using a USB key isn't really 'Lego' enough.

bradleyland 15y ago
The trick would be loading/unloading the cars in a reliable and fast way. With a multi-cart train running in a loop, I probably wouldn't shoot for TCP/IP. Something like T1 would be a lot easier to implement because it uses very straight forward time-division-mutiplexing (serial by nature). You could use a simplistic encoding method like AMI, but your frames would have to be much smaller. The simplest T1 carrier frame is 192 data bits with 1 signaling bit, so you're looking at a pretty massive train. Because the physical train itself could serve as the frame boundaries, you could use 16 cars and carry two bytes per trip. The bit rate and latency are going to suck though ;)

huhtenberg 15y ago

Ah, damn. A USB stick. I was really hoping the train would be carrying actual SYNs, ACKs and DATA payloads using differently colored bricks :)

chuchurocka 15y ago
Yeah, it would be interesting to see this handle all of the different requests.
qdot76367 15y ago
The wonderful thing about nerd rage is that it gets stupid things done. I fully expect to see a response project of ACTUAL TCP/IP implementations via lego trains. Hell, multiple response projects, probably. And then someone will do IPX/SPX just to be cute.
- jpdoctor 15y ago
  > I fully expect to see a response project of ACTUAL TCP/IP implementations via lego trains. Here's hoping that they also work their way up the OSI stack. I'm looking forward to seeing what "418 I'm a teapot" looks like from the LEGO http server.
  - mjwalshe 15y ago
    or even a full x.400 mail system linking to a real x.500 directory

Ecio78 15y ago

it reminds me of IP over Avian Carriers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_over_Avian_Carriers

darklajid 15y ago
You mean one of the humorous RFCs that the article refers to and links to already, right?