My Relay Computer - First Experiment

[Vtolus]

perfect!



[slicker41]

its counting up in binary!

[wandov8]

The computer is playing some robotic music...

[ivaerak]

interesting

[Mariolover20]

the computer is tap dancing ;)

[ApolloWasReal]

Nice work! I used to dream of having the money to build something like this when I was a kid -- and this was current technology.

[bountykiller91]

It's The First Drum Machine :)

[TheHappyWhaleshark]

it sounds like shes beat boxing :P

[bazengao]

what is he doing?

[nablaman]

@bazengao Zusie is a she! :-) The program shown in the video increments the value of a register again and again.

[bazengao]

@nablaman a she? ok friend if that's what you think so be it.

[nablaman]

@bazengao Oh come on, I bet you feel the same way about your computer ;-)

[bazengao]

@nablaman i call him "mobile no more" cuz his actually a laptop that has been converted to a very small desktop. i should send you some picts so you can see my work, but i'm very lazy XD

[tbsys31061]

@nablaman loud and annoying but beautiful ?

i know that ;D

[quantumbits]

@bazengao It 's counting.



[DiesesHausBebt]

your computer is ritmic

[nablaman]

@DaZeK2910 that would rob you of the fun of building one for yourself ;)

[Sofar2]

I feel proud of myself for figuring out that it was counting before reading the description. This thing is awesome, you're reenacting computer history.

[nablaman]

@Sofar2 Thanks :) Nice to hear that you appreciate the machine's intuitive user interface ;)

[Sofar2]

I feel proud of myself for figuring out that it was counting before reading the description.

[IMSTINKYBUTHAVESWAGG]

just wondedrful.

[poweredBYGDK]

is it me or it's drum n bass :P

[eddy66t6]

Mr. Babbage would be proud.... ;)

[zxtlpn]

Sounds like music.

[clemstevenson]

32-bit machine, with 4-gigabytes of relay ram!

[phroggyy]

seems to be very energy efficient... =P

[nablaman]

@phroggyy not really :)

[h7iws]

Danb ur's lovely :)

Want to make one myself :)

[nablaman]

@h7iws You should, it's a lot of fun :)

[adric22]

This actually looks exactly like people from the 1950's probably envisioned computers today would look like. I know it was in the 1960's but just look at the original Star Trek.

[TeravoltOrg]

I want

[GalaticTG]

it sounds like a pinball machine XD

[Sebiify]

i love the clicking :)

[xaboo]

seems efficient to me. lmao

[1027sterling]

When you get done with the project, you should see if you can sell it to a hollywood studio as a movie set. I would be cool to see your work in a sci-fi film!

[yaglourt]

How many FLOPS for your futur CPU ? :-)

[nablaman]

@yaglourt Zero! (it doesn't have a floating point unit =)

[yaglourt]

@nablaman touché ^^ a fpu with 8-bit registers would be hard

no flops but maybe... 1 operation per second for your prototype ?

[nablaman]

@yaglourt Yep, a 8-bit fp number would have pretty lousy precision :)

Yes it's around one half to one op/second now, I hope to be able to increase this though when it's trimmed in better. There are a lot of wait states rightnnow, for synchronizing things and making sure values are stable on buses etc..

[devhook23]

nice beat boxing machine. is it running logic pro?

[Pagai]

i would like to have this instead of an ipad!!! :)

awesome work!!!!

[flexi0n]

epic!

[Alienatorus]

it totally sounds like Jojo Mayer's breakbeat on his practice pad...

[pieznice29]

wow, nice :) how much did you spend on relays lol?

[daxweb]

omg

[Pugragger]

its like music....

[reviathon360]

46! :D

[benban9010]

Whats with the blue laser beams?

[nablaman]

@benban9010 Not lasers, just high-intensity LEDs. The red ones are data bits and the blue ones are control lines. Looks cool too :)

[mokus45]

@benban9010 I'm sure, it's a message for E.T.

[3mustardMoNkEyS]

atleast it doesn't need a sound card ;)

Awesome job, even better than a logic chip computer!

[nablaman]

@3mustardMoNkEyS Thanks :)

[rajithaify]

awesome work dude!

[waeem2010]

Nice Good job

[pokamonmaster1997]

musical!

[PortaleMedia]

I like the sound ^^

[illkaozful]

It's a drum'n'base rythm^^,yeah, if you make beat's you'll hear it

[BoltAndPennyFan]

Wooow! I wanna play CoD Mw2 on it!

[ekaksana]

I would love to record the sounds this makes with my field recorder.

[nablaman]

@ekaksana You're welcome to come by =)

[cashino]

lol

[raulrrojas]

great job! keep us informed of your progres! looks like it's just working connected to a modern computer but it's anyway great!

[nablaman]

@raulrrojas Yep, for now it is connected to a modern computer, but when the program sequencer is finished it will be able to run on its own!

[nablaman]

@raulrrojas Hey I just recognized your name - thanks for all the great Z3 documentation you've written! :) I'm going to see the new Z3 in Hünfeld next week - maybe I'll even see you there?!

[Alex80586]

whats music playing...?

[HenkAnnieNaald]

That souds soo awesome!

[icychopstix]

any 1 else find them self bobbing along to this?

should put some music to it :P

[ScottieNiven]

Sounds like its making a tune!!

[yusuke0414p314159i]

How wonderful!

[dallatorretdu]

only fantastic....

nothing to say.. fantastic

[BlackCow99]

What kind of circuit board is that, wirewrap?

[nablaman]

It is a wire wrap board, but I have soldered the wires directly to the strips on the back side. You can see a picture of the wiring at my web site listed in the video's info text.

[hyvahyva]

This is great! I'm kind of considering building a relay logic Turing machine... I just need to work out how to do the main storage "tape".

[FlyByPC]

Very nice. Someday, I gotta build a relay computer. I've done a small Z80 system and would like to work backwards. Videos like this are very inspiring. Nice job!

[thuzjak3]

good job,but can u tell me what can it do?only add and subtract multiply and divide or something else?

[LilGreenFiero]

Watching this makes rekindles my desire to build on of these.

I think my tour de force would be a much more optimized memory bank using capacitors instead of relay-logic flip-flops. That way it's a lot more cost effective to scale up the memory, not to mention more energy efficient. You just have to choose a relay that will be easily tripped with a small capacitor. It's also possible to do an OR operation with two or more registers using one read operation as well, lol.

[lordtapdoles]

This is amazing! Very well done. I bet a lot of hours went in to this. I am currently doing something similar but am taking a much softer approach.

[nablaman]

Thanks :) Yes, a number of evenings have gone into this, but I'm also taking kind of a soft approach, working on it a little now and then.. That way, the fun lasts longer :)

[djmauropicotto]

can it run crysis?

[animebsd]

hahahahaha

[gustavoturm]

@djmauropicotto I played league of legends on one of these.

[snemeis90]

@djmauropicotto Yes, if you connect an LCD Screen via HDMI, a keyboard and a USB mouse to it you can easily play crysis2 on 1080p and high res textures.

*facepalm*

[astrocat75]

this is great, I am no computer scientist or engineer but I appreciate the reverse engineering and appreciation of past achievements in making this or the rebirth of Colosus in the UK. As for me it is art and a snapshot of a turning point point in human evolution. Thanks!

[yrotstsohgallet]

AWESOME! and as for people who ask what the point of this project is... sigh. it's obviously for learning, for a challenge, and all that important stuff. literally millions of people each day turn on their computers and don't learn anything and aren't challenged!

how did you connect the LEDs so that each one lights up when the relay it's connected to is working?

[nablaman]

Thank you for your very true and encouraging words!

The LEDs are just connected, with a resistor, across the terminals

of the relay coils. There's also a reverse (snubber) diode across each

relay, since the relays are 24V and the high negative voltages that occur when

the relays switch will otherwise kill the LEDs.

[recpyro]

@yrotstsohgallet

i would guess the LEDs are connected from the output of the relay to a ground.

[Serostern]

@yrotstsohgallet One leg to ground and the other in paralell with the output

[flexbaud]

This might be a silly question, but what is the purpose of this device? It's not like you could run an OS on it, it's just a bunch of flashing lights and clicking? It looks cool, but just don't see a point in it. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[nablaman]

Looking cool is indeed the main point of it :)

However, it's also a great learning experience to build, as the principles behind it are the same as in any modern digital device.

[nablaman]

Sounds great! Although I think it would be difficult to build reliable and robust relays yourself.. Did you have any luck? Let us know! :)

Otherwise, maybe you could look for industrial surplus dealers - I have seen a few in the US on the web?

[Esperantanaso]

I did try to build a prototype relay, but it only half worked... I learned a few valuable lessons:

1. Solder doesn't stick to tinfoil well, hence does not make a good contact

2. It's hard to make a contact that works 100%

3. To make an electromagnet, you need an iron core (a dowel doesn't work!).

...So instead of continuing to "refine" my design, I think I'm just going to buy around 80 relays from Mouser and build the computer using them. Probably easier than building 80 from scratch. :P

[Esperantanaso]

I'm buying several types of relays to test them, then I'll decide which kind I like best. There are actually solid state relays, which are cheaper, but unfortunately don't make the delightful noise of mechanical relays. XD I think I may use mechanical ones for the clock if i can, just to keep the charm. I'll keep you updated.

[Esperantanaso]

Hey, I'm considering building my own relay computer now. Unfortunately, I don't have such a good deal on relays like you did, but I think I can build them from scratch using really inexpensive materials (including poker chips, wooden dowels, and washers XD). I want to make the prototype model of the relay tomorrow.... I will post a video if successful. :)

[dana4261]

Nice work! I just received a bunch of cheap relays I bought from newark today. Gonna try and make a digital clock using relays, including making the logic to drive each 7 segment display. Sure I could buy a the IC to do it for 45 cents, but that wouldn't be any fun. Good job so far!

[nablaman]

You have absolutely the right attitude! :-))

Your project sounds like great fun, don't forget to post some videos or a webpage about it!

[Esperantanaso]

Ah, I love seeing these kinds of machines. Especially the sounds... I've always wanted to make one. Thank you for posting this!

[nablaman]

I'm glad you like it!

[Esperantanaso]

How much did each relay cost?... It seems that this is a pricey build.

[nablaman]

That's the really nice thing. I bought a bunch of circuit boards (100 or so) with relays on them from a scrap dealer (the cards had never been used though), and desoldered them. So I got over 1000 relays at something like $100 in total. A real bargain, although it took some work! :-)

[Esperantanaso]

Wow! *Jealous* XP