
The YouTuber Shadowman39 used the children’s plastic construction set K’NEX as the basis for a full-fledged 8-bit computer.
The mechanical model created by the YouTuber is capable of performing computational operations. It is based on an arithmetic-logic device (ALP). In computing, an ALU is part of the processor, performing basic operations such as addition.
The Shadowman39 computer is completely assembled from rods, connectors, and gears K’NEX. It is capable of performing computational operations with numbers from 0 to 255 (or -128 to 127 in binary). It stores values in mechanical registers, each of which consists of a series of levers. The position of the lever corresponds to a binary one or zero.
For use of a computer you have to manually set the levers according to the two input numbers. The rail drive then starts the calculations. Slowly, step by step, the computer performs the mathematical calculations and produces the final result. Each click and knock of the parts represents a step in the operation.
Building a computer out of K’NEX — parts is not an easy task because they are not designed for that. The parts bend and deform, and the connections weaken over time. The mechanical arithmetic-logic device simulates the operation of logic gates in early computers. Each computation bit is handled by a series of levers and gears carefully designed to reproduce binary addition.
The same system of rails and gears that usually drives toy cars is used here to management of the sequence of operations. The numbers are processed and summarized correctly, one by one.
The design is in many ways reminiscent of mechanical calculators of the 19th century, which also used gears and moving parts to solve mathematical problems. But instead of brass and steel, this calculator is made of plastic.
One of Shadowman39’s first projects was a working skeeball machine of real size. The device consisted of a coin-operated machine and a scoreboard. The project took over a year to complete and involved more than 10 thousand parts.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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