I have long thought it would be cool to build a simple computer out of
transistors, vacuum tubes, or relays. Not only for the educational
aspects but also for the art of it. And to demonstrate that a computer
is not magical. It is a machine just like any other. A very complicated
one. But a machine all the same. Transistors themselves almost seem
magical so they are out. Vacuum tubes are expensive and potentially
failure prone. But relays seem just right. They are mechanical devices
that people can understand. Put enough of them together in the right way
and you can actually make a semi-useful computing machine.
Turns out some guys have already done this. Here is perhaps the most
impressive:
http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~harry/Relay/
Here is another smaller scale computer:
http://www.electronixandmore.com/project/relaycomputertwo/
Amazing. I need to read up on how this stuff works and educate myself a
bit more. I would love to have a modern art piece like the relay
computer in that first link on my wall.
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Tracy R Reed Read my blog at http://ultraviolet.org
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