Richard J. Ridel’s all-wooden, mechanical Turing machine uses the smallest set of data elements capable of computing any calculation: 0, 1 and blank; it was inspired by Ridel’s viewing of The Imitation Game.
There are a number
of issues that need mentioning.I did not build a safeguard into the
Writing Wires. Things will
break if the machine attempts to write a ‘0’ as well as a ‘1’.
And wires can migrate and drift.The Reader Rocker basically floats when reading a ‘0’. It could
move and present the wrong data to the back of the Configuration
Mechanism.Build the machine so timing and throw are adjustable.
Build the machine so you can remove a part without having to
completely dismantle the entire thing.My part names are not the most logical nor clear.
My engineering technique is not the
best, however, efficiency
and simplicity can be ignored for artistic aesthetics.In the end, I had fun building it. And I guess that’s all that
matters.
Mechanical Turing Machine in Wood
Explained [Richard J. Ridel]
(via Hackaday)