5 ms·

Working Turing Machine

259 points by ludovicianul 2y ago

NeoTar 2y ago
This feel like a model which should benefit when the limit for LEGO ideas is increased from 3000 to 5000 pieces. https://brickset.com/article/113876/lego-ideas-maximum-part-count-to-increase https://brickset.com/article/113876/lego-ideas-maximum-part-...
_ache_ 2y ago
A small size version of Rubens ! http://rubens.ens-lyon.fr/fr/videos/ http://rubens.ens-lyon.fr/fr/videos/
- tromp 2y ago
  Indeed they improved the tape cell size by an order of magnitude, to be about the minimum possible.
Stem0037 2y ago
One concern: Given the complexity, I wonder if this might be too niche for a mainstream LEGO release. Maybe it would work better as a specialized educational set?
cosmolev 2y ago
Can't wait to see DOOM running on this one!
- layer8 2y ago
  You’ll have to wait (and crank) quite a bit for the first frame to be output though.
  - kmoser 2y ago
    Just build it in Roblox and let it run by itself!
  - sonofhans 2y ago
    Boy, that’s some “Towers of Hanoi” business, isn’t it? Imagine a monastic group dedicated to this. “Our goal is to use the Lego Turing Machine to render all frames from John Romero’s speedrun of Doom level 1. And then the universe will end.”
    - namaria 2y ago
      I just realized, that's accelerationism with less steps
- jekude 2y ago
  Built a working implementation in Go [0] a while ago, have always wanted to hook up DOOM to it. [0] https://github.com/planetlambert/turing https://github.com/planetlambert/turing
- deleted 2y ago
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jekude 2y ago
Does it come with UTM on the tape?
red_admiral 2y ago
It works fine, but I don't want to be turning that lever by hand forever - have they made sure that it halts at some point? EDIT1: "Won't there be a problem with Intellectual Property? No, the Turing machine is a mathematical model and has no Intellectual Property :)" I love this kind of comment.
- ZiiS 2y ago
  No; https://www.jstor.org/stable/2371045?origin=crossref https://www.jstor.org/stable/2371045?origin=crossref
  - theideaofcoffee 2y ago
    Whoosh! It was a joke.
  - volemo 2y ago
    Yes; Turing Machine with finite tape can be simulated by a deterministic finite automaton, and we know if those halt or not.
    - YesThatTom2 2y ago
      If it supported an infinite tape, that would get me closer to my dream of owning an infinite number of legos! I love it!
    - FartyMcFarter 2y ago
      > Yes; The question was "have they made sure that it halts at some point?" The answer cannot be yes, since some machines never halt.
ape4 2y ago
(probably explained somewhere but I didn't see it) Is all the logic done with Lego gears!?
- red_admiral 2y ago
  Looks like it (as well as Lego bricks, pins etc.). Apparently Lego is Turing-complete.
  - yreg 2y ago
    That's a bit like saying wood is turing-complete.
gwbas1c 2y ago
Meh. Wake me up when it's done booting Linux. (Joke) This is awesome!
- Affric 2y ago
  RIP. Thank god addressable memory.
xg15 2y ago
OT: I find it interesting that the Technic branch of Lego seems to increasingly separate itself from the rest of the franchise, design-wise - to the point they got rid of the actual bricks! In older models, there used to be the occasional "flying" section that was built exclusively out of axles, beams and linkages, but the main support structures were still mostly made out of "traditional" Lego bricks (albeit with holes in them). With recent models, they seem to have made the "flying" style the norm and the standard bricks the exception. I wonder if this is some indication of Technic becoming its own thing independent of Lego. (I only noticed the design changes, I have no idea if there are some company politics behind it - but if there is more information I'd be interested to know)
- xg15 2y ago
  ...apparently the community term is "studless" and the design change already occurred in the late 90s or early 00s! I feel old now. https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1912/why-does-lego-now-use-studless-technic-designs https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1912/why-does-leg...
cobbaut 2y ago
Is that a 3D printed Lego gear at 12'40" in the video?
- xg15 2y ago
  Can you post a screenshot? I don't see anything, but I don't think that player let's me find the correct location either...
  - cobbaut 2y ago
    In front of the middle finger: http://herrdebby.netsec.be/3d_lego_Screenshot_2024-09-26_14-00-38.jpg http://herrdebby.netsec.be/3d_lego_Screenshot_2024-09-26_14-...
    - undersuit 2y ago
      Looks like a 3-d printed 40 teeth gear. https://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/ https://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/
    - xg15 2y ago
      Yeah, that looks 3D-printed. I wonder though why he would 3D print a standard part that is also easily obtainable online. (Unless he had a printer already available and it was easier to print it than to buy one)
      - jlv2 2y ago
        From the Register article: "Fans of 3D printing will no doubt be pleased to note that some of the parts (notably one of the large gears) came from a printer, but only because buying missing bits online tends to take longer and cost more. A real-world version of the model was designed and built first to make sure it worked. Stud.io was then pressed into service to create rendered versions." https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/05/lego_ideas_turing_machine/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/05/lego_ideas_turing_mac...
fifilura 2y ago
When I was a child, the dream build was the programmable crane from the 8888 Lego Ideas book. https://rebrickable.com/blog/685/classic-review-technic-idea-book-8888/ https://rebrickable.com/blog/685/classic-review-technic-idea... Alas, I did not have enough gear racks to program it. Thanks to bricklink I eventually got my revenge when I got my own kids. In general a fantastic book.
- jrmg 2y ago
  I loved reading this! Brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for posting.
  - fifilura 2y ago
    I remember getting help from my grandfather sending a mail to Denmark complaining that the rubber bands in some model broke, and they were not easily replaceable with regular rubber bands. So I got a reply back with some new rubber bands along with this book. The excavator on the front page was possible to build with my bricks and also a good build.
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259 points by ludovicianul 2y ago

This feel like a model which should benefit when the limit for LEGO ideas is increased from 3000 to 5000 pieces. https://brickset.com/article/113876/lego-ideas-maximum-part-count-to-increase https://brickset.com/article/113876/lego-ideas-maximum-part-...

_ache_ 2y ago

A small size version of Rubens ! http://rubens.ens-lyon.fr/fr/videos/ http://rubens.ens-lyon.fr/fr/videos/

tromp 2y ago
Indeed they improved the tape cell size by an order of magnitude, to be about the minimum possible.

Stem0037 2y ago

One concern: Given the complexity, I wonder if this might be too niche for a mainstream LEGO release. Maybe it would work better as a specialized educational set?

cosmolev 2y ago

Can't wait to see DOOM running on this one!

layer8 2y ago
You’ll have to wait (and crank) quite a bit for the first frame to be output though.
- kmoser 2y ago
  Just build it in Roblox and let it run by itself!
- sonofhans 2y ago
  Boy, that’s some “Towers of Hanoi” business, isn’t it? Imagine a monastic group dedicated to this. “Our goal is to use the Lego Turing Machine to render all frames from John Romero’s speedrun of Doom level 1. And then the universe will end.”
  - namaria 2y ago
    I just realized, that's accelerationism with less steps
jekude 2y ago
Built a working implementation in Go [0] a while ago, have always wanted to hook up DOOM to it. [0] https://github.com/planetlambert/turing https://github.com/planetlambert/turing
deleted 2y ago
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deleted 2y ago

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jekude 2y ago

Does it come with UTM on the tape?

red_admiral 2y ago

It works fine, but I don't want to be turning that lever by hand forever - have they made sure that it halts at some point? EDIT1: "Won't there be a problem with Intellectual Property? No, the Turing machine is a mathematical model and has no Intellectual Property :)" I love this kind of comment.

ZiiS 2y ago
No; https://www.jstor.org/stable/2371045?origin=crossref https://www.jstor.org/stable/2371045?origin=crossref
- theideaofcoffee 2y ago
  Whoosh! It was a joke.
- volemo 2y ago
  Yes; Turing Machine with finite tape can be simulated by a deterministic finite automaton, and we know if those halt or not.
  - YesThatTom2 2y ago
    If it supported an infinite tape, that would get me closer to my dream of owning an infinite number of legos! I love it!
  - FartyMcFarter 2y ago
    > Yes; The question was "have they made sure that it halts at some point?" The answer cannot be yes, since some machines never halt.

ape4 2y ago

(probably explained somewhere but I didn't see it) Is all the logic done with Lego gears!?

red_admiral 2y ago
Looks like it (as well as Lego bricks, pins etc.). Apparently Lego is Turing-complete.
- yreg 2y ago
  That's a bit like saying wood is turing-complete.

gwbas1c 2y ago

Meh. Wake me up when it's done booting Linux. (Joke) This is awesome!

Affric 2y ago
RIP. Thank god addressable memory.

xg15 2y ago

OT: I find it interesting that the Technic branch of Lego seems to increasingly separate itself from the rest of the franchise, design-wise - to the point they got rid of the actual bricks! In older models, there used to be the occasional "flying" section that was built exclusively out of axles, beams and linkages, but the main support structures were still mostly made out of "traditional" Lego bricks (albeit with holes in them). With recent models, they seem to have made the "flying" style the norm and the standard bricks the exception. I wonder if this is some indication of Technic becoming its own thing independent of Lego. (I only noticed the design changes, I have no idea if there are some company politics behind it - but if there is more information I'd be interested to know)

xg15 2y ago
...apparently the community term is "studless" and the design change already occurred in the late 90s or early 00s! I feel old now. https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1912/why-does-lego-now-use-studless-technic-designs https://bricks.stackexchange.com/questions/1912/why-does-leg...

cobbaut 2y ago

Is that a 3D printed Lego gear at 12'40" in the video?

xg15 2y ago
Can you post a screenshot? I don't see anything, but I don't think that player let's me find the correct location either...
- cobbaut 2y ago
  In front of the middle finger: http://herrdebby.netsec.be/3d_lego_Screenshot_2024-09-26_14-00-38.jpg http://herrdebby.netsec.be/3d_lego_Screenshot_2024-09-26_14-...
  - undersuit 2y ago
    Looks like a 3-d printed 40 teeth gear. https://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/ https://sariel.pl/2009/09/gears-tutorial/
  - xg15 2y ago
    Yeah, that looks 3D-printed. I wonder though why he would 3D print a standard part that is also easily obtainable online. (Unless he had a printer already available and it was easier to print it than to buy one)
    - jlv2 2y ago
      From the Register article: "Fans of 3D printing will no doubt be pleased to note that some of the parts (notably one of the large gears) came from a printer, but only because buying missing bits online tends to take longer and cost more. A real-world version of the model was designed and built first to make sure it worked. Stud.io was then pressed into service to create rendered versions." https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/05/lego_ideas_turing_machine/ https://www.theregister.com/2024/10/05/lego_ideas_turing_mac...

fifilura 2y ago

When I was a child, the dream build was the programmable crane from the 8888 Lego Ideas book. https://rebrickable.com/blog/685/classic-review-technic-idea-book-8888/ https://rebrickable.com/blog/685/classic-review-technic-idea... Alas, I did not have enough gear racks to program it. Thanks to bricklink I eventually got my revenge when I got my own kids. In general a fantastic book.

jrmg 2y ago
I loved reading this! Brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for posting.
- fifilura 2y ago
  I remember getting help from my grandfather sending a mail to Denmark complaining that the rubber bands in some model broke, and they were not easily replaceable with regular rubber bands. So I got a reply back with some new rubber bands along with this book. The excavator on the front page was possible to build with my bricks and also a good build.

deleted 2y ago

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