5 ms·

The Programmable Typewriter

47 points by GauntletWizard 11y ago

rtpg 11y ago
This is the guy behind spacechem and TIS-100 I envy Zach so much, he seems to have succeeded in making his entire life about turing machines and different execution models, all while making cool games to boot. I think it's the dream of many (including myself) to put some basic programming mechanism into everything; There's a bit of magic about having a typewriter print out your output so you can debug it here and there I do kind of wonder how well this old-school programming style meshes with a higher-level language like Haskell. I can only imagine it being even better. A terse language with huge columns to write your ocmments/debugging. I've seen it done with APL, maybe we need J in there too.
- CmonDev 11y ago
  He also designed the game Minecraft had heavily "borrowed" from.
Animats 11y ago
Daisy wheel typewriters were the first consumer product with many moving parts in which all the coordination and control was entirely electronic. The electronics behind getting the print wheel into position that fast are very clever. The coarse positioning uses a stepping motor, but the fine positioning and and braking involve an analog servo loop.
- kw71 11y ago
  I had some Brother typewriters but I think the most amazing piece of this I ever had was a (Xerox) Diablo 630. Aside from the daisywheel printhead, it had what looked like a 1/2 hp motor to move the carriage. I used to watch in amazement as this monster worked with such precision.
stevebmark 11y ago
I imagine if you brought noisy contraption that to a hackathon, a bunch of people working together in a room trying to cram out a project, you would make a lot of enemies very fast.
- ackalker 11y ago
  I guess that you nave never been to a demoscene event then (or it doesn't count as a hackathon in your book). Lots of chance that there are teams there working in frenzy to finish their demo in time while across the table others are busy boozing till they drop (accompanied by the requisite loud banter). If a team really need quiet time at such an event, they usually retire to (the basement/a hotel/someone's garage/a coffeeshop). And no, they don't just hack software demos at such events, I've come across (noisy) 3D printers, pinball tables, slot machines, robots in many sizes and shapes, RC racing cars, drones, you name it.
jacobolus 11y ago
Cool project, but bragging about using a $10 Chinese Saleae Logic knockoff seems pretty scummy. Saleae is a tiny Bay Area company who make a great product and put a ton of hard work into their software, which is then shamelessly ripped off by the Chinese companies selling these inferior knock-offs which even steal their trademark. https://www.saleae.com/counterfeit https://www.saleae.com/counterfeit If someone wrote a post about how buying the full collection of Zachtronics games for $5 from a Russian pirate site made them feel like a Gibson novel character, I imagine he’d be a bit less sanguine.
- jacquesm 11y ago
  He may simply not have been aware that it was a knock-off.
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
- kw71 11y ago
  What a shame for the Saleae people. HP 1650 analyzers can be had in the $10 range (plus shipping) from eBay, but I think the bus pirate might have worked out for this hack.
- sneak 11y ago
  Perhaps the Saleae devices (in their beautiful machined, anodized cases) are too expensive if someone is eating their lunch for $10. (The Saleae devices are ~$100.) I have one of the plastic, "counterfeit" knockoffs, and it works great. It would be a different story if they didn't function, but it is a fine device. They're just bad at capitalism. If someone printing your company name on a sticker and reusing your USB VID/PID is all it takes to destroy your business, perhaps you shouldn't have that business. Hackintoshes exist, yet Apple still sells Macs, because they are a great hardware company. Saleae is an overpriced hardware company. PS: How is the fact that the knockoffs are Chinese or that Saleae is in the Bay Area relevant? I posit it is simply racism that you offer.
  - 11y ago
sobkas 11y ago
I somehow fail to see how this is more than just an advertisement for his game... I would say it's nice one, but I felt a bit duped.

rtpg 11y ago

This is the guy behind spacechem and TIS-100 I envy Zach so much, he seems to have succeeded in making his entire life about turing machines and different execution models, all while making cool games to boot. I think it's the dream of many (including myself) to put some basic programming mechanism into everything; There's a bit of magic about having a typewriter print out your output so you can debug it here and there I do kind of wonder how well this old-school programming style meshes with a higher-level language like Haskell. I can only imagine it being even better. A terse language with huge columns to write your ocmments/debugging. I've seen it done with APL, maybe we need J in there too.

CmonDev 11y ago
He also designed the game Minecraft had heavily "borrowed" from.

Animats 11y ago

Daisy wheel typewriters were the first consumer product with many moving parts in which all the coordination and control was entirely electronic. The electronics behind getting the print wheel into position that fast are very clever. The coarse positioning uses a stepping motor, but the fine positioning and and braking involve an analog servo loop.

kw71 11y ago
I had some Brother typewriters but I think the most amazing piece of this I ever had was a (Xerox) Diablo 630. Aside from the daisywheel printhead, it had what looked like a 1/2 hp motor to move the carriage. I used to watch in amazement as this monster worked with such precision.

stevebmark 11y ago

I imagine if you brought noisy contraption that to a hackathon, a bunch of people working together in a room trying to cram out a project, you would make a lot of enemies very fast.

ackalker 11y ago
I guess that you nave never been to a demoscene event then (or it doesn't count as a hackathon in your book). Lots of chance that there are teams there working in frenzy to finish their demo in time while across the table others are busy boozing till they drop (accompanied by the requisite loud banter). If a team really need quiet time at such an event, they usually retire to (the basement/a hotel/someone's garage/a coffeeshop). And no, they don't just hack software demos at such events, I've come across (noisy) 3D printers, pinball tables, slot machines, robots in many sizes and shapes, RC racing cars, drones, you name it.

jacobolus 11y ago

Cool project, but bragging about using a $10 Chinese Saleae Logic knockoff seems pretty scummy. Saleae is a tiny Bay Area company who make a great product and put a ton of hard work into their software, which is then shamelessly ripped off by the Chinese companies selling these inferior knock-offs which even steal their trademark. https://www.saleae.com/counterfeit https://www.saleae.com/counterfeit If someone wrote a post about how buying the full collection of Zachtronics games for $5 from a Russian pirate site made them feel like a Gibson novel character, I imagine he’d be a bit less sanguine.

jacquesm 11y ago
He may simply not have been aware that it was a knock-off.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
kw71 11y ago
What a shame for the Saleae people. HP 1650 analyzers can be had in the $10 range (plus shipping) from eBay, but I think the bus pirate might have worked out for this hack.
sneak 11y ago
Perhaps the Saleae devices (in their beautiful machined, anodized cases) are too expensive if someone is eating their lunch for $10. (The Saleae devices are ~$100.) I have one of the plastic, "counterfeit" knockoffs, and it works great. It would be a different story if they didn't function, but it is a fine device. They're just bad at capitalism. If someone printing your company name on a sticker and reusing your USB VID/PID is all it takes to destroy your business, perhaps you shouldn't have that business. Hackintoshes exist, yet Apple still sells Macs, because they are a great hardware company. Saleae is an overpriced hardware company. PS: How is the fact that the knockoffs are Chinese or that Saleae is in the Bay Area relevant? I posit it is simply racism that you offer.
- 11y ago

sobkas 11y ago

I somehow fail to see how this is more than just an advertisement for his game... I would say it's nice one, but I felt a bit duped.