Difference between revisions of "Project:Ball Computer"
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= Part 1: Introduction = | = Part 1: Introduction = | ||
| − | ''Or how [[User:Flux|Flux's]] imagination got the better | + | ''Or how [[User:Flux|Flux's]] imagination got the better of him..'' |
Long ago, when I was young, I received a copy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_Things_Work The Way Things Work]. It's an awesome book and I spent many happy hours studying it. The two things that fascinated me most were nuclear power and electronic adders. I wanted to make my own water-based adder (I didn't have any uranium). I didn't really know where to begin and it stayed firmly in the realm of my imagination. | Long ago, when I was young, I received a copy of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_Things_Work The Way Things Work]. It's an awesome book and I spent many happy hours studying it. The two things that fascinated me most were nuclear power and electronic adders. I wanted to make my own water-based adder (I didn't have any uranium). I didn't really know where to begin and it stayed firmly in the realm of my imagination. | ||
Revision as of 23:23, 13 April 2011
Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere. -- Einstein
Part 1: Introduction
Or how Flux's imagination got the better of him..
Long ago, when I was young, I received a copy of The Way Things Work. It's an awesome book and I spent many happy hours studying it. The two things that fascinated me most were nuclear power and electronic adders. I wanted to make my own water-based adder (I didn't have any uranium). I didn't really know where to begin and it stayed firmly in the realm of my imagination.
Fast-forward twenty years and I've just joined the Space. Somewhere buried in my subconscious the idea is dusted off and *bam* it's back (2011-04-12). Water-based logic gates, memory, coloured water displays (think of the mixing)... this is what the MakerBot was made for! How many transistors did the Intel 4004 have? Only 2,300...
Today (2011-04-13) I mentioned this to Tom (Reading hacker extraordinaire) over tea. He loved it too and we started to think it through. Stay tuned for Part 2 where we get a teeny bit practical.