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Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

megaprocessor.com

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Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#51

Post by Koshkin »

temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

No need in electronics whatsoever - mechanical computing is a sufficiently advanced engineering discipline, as, incidentally, is fluidics!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluidics

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#53

Post by LaputanMachine »

jazzyjackson wrote: post #48
diordiderot wrote: post #39

This is currently sitting in the computing history museum in Cambridge. 10 pounds entry. They have loads of old computers and consoles

Massachusetts or UK?

UK. Here's the Megaprocessor on the museum's website: https://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/43063/The-Megaproces...

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#54

Post by IanWard1 »

osamagirl69 wrote: post #49

The mega processor is one of my all-time favorite computers, along with the Magic-1 https://homebrewcpu.com/ The megaprocessor is just absolutely wonderful in how it bridges from 'here is a transistor, it lights an LED' to 'here is a computer, it plays tetris'. I always struggled to unwind the layers of abstraction in a modern computer from atoms in the CPU to running python, but being able to just look at a bunch of…

Love this kind of build, so I'm working on a little breadboard one myself https://www.youtube.com/IanWard1 similar to the Ben Eater 8-bit CPU videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyznrdDSSGM&list=PLowKtXNTBy... (which are amazing and everyone should watch)

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#56

Post by Jtsummers »

umvi wrote: post #37
galcerte wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In that case, if you want a somewhat entertaining very-high-level overview of what would need to be done, then there's a manga that showed this off a few chapters ago, it's called Dr. Stone. What stuck with me the most was that the purity needed for the silicon used in processors was absurdly high, so much so that they couldn't quite do that just yet, so they made a processor out of parametrons and used magnetic core…

Dr. Stone is great but I also found it to be a bit too hand-wavy. In real life you can't just build steam engines with a small village worth of labor + a "master craftsman". Mining, transporting, and refining iron ore alone is a huge task that could easily consume every drop of the village's labor resources and still not produce much iron. Fuel is also a huge task. Unless you have a high quality coal mine nearby, you…

At least with iron, you'd have the benefit of the existing refined ore lying all around you in a post-apocalyptic setting. There's little need for actually mining iron ore anymore if your population has been reduced by 99% or more. You can walk down any abandoned street and find sources of iron and other metals. Now, there's still the refining process (but it would be shorter from something already processed) and fuel to contend with.

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#57

Post by 95014_refugee »

temeritatis wrote: post #7

I often wondered i could build some sort of general computing machine if we were pushed back to the dark ages or something. I guess you have to define exactly at what level of technological achievements we were pushed back to. But with the knowledge we have today, and without ICs (or advanced manufacturing facilities) and only "simple electronics" (whatever that would be) if this would be possible. Fun stuff to think…

Then the next question is; what would you do with it?

You need a source of problems to solve, and until you've bootstrapped the rest of society at least to the point where something like high-resolution trigonometric tables, desktop publishing, high-speed accounting, (for example) are needed, the effort isn't going to keep you fed...

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#58

Post by AnIdiotOnTheNet »

osamagirl69 wrote: post #49

The mega processor is one of my all-time favorite computers, along with the Magic-1 https://homebrewcpu.com/ The megaprocessor is just absolutely wonderful in how it bridges from 'here is a transistor, it lights an LED' to 'here is a computer, it plays tetris'. I always struggled to unwind the layers of abstraction in a modern computer from atoms in the CPU to running python, but being able to just look at a bunch of…

I'm partial to the Gigatron[0] myself. Built entirely using a mere 34 TTL ICs available in the 70s (930 logic gates) and it's capable of driving a VGA monitor and 4-bit sound while running at 6.25Mhz. In my opinion, it is beautifully simple and elegant.

[0] https://gigatron.io

Re: Megaprocessor – A micro-processor built large (2016)

#59

Post by ezconnect »

dhosek wrote: post #40
ezconnect wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the dark ages you can build gears. Gears can do arithmetic and calculus.

The catch is that there are tolerance issues. Doron Swade's account of building the two existing Difference Engine #2 models ( http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0670910201/donhosek ) is a good example of where the challenges lie. It was just barely possible to do with 19th century technology. Physical mechanisms deviate from theory by quite a bit.

Antikythera mechanism was built before the Dark Ages, he just wanted to go back to the Dark Ages so he can do precision work by that time, he can probably build a battleship fire control system at that time.

edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gwf5mAlI7Ug

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