It looks like [Michal Zalewski] is raising the next generation right. First, his eldest son asked for help building a single-bit computer using discrete transistors. Not wanting to be left behind, his brother asked for help with a more retro project, which ultimately resulted in this calculator, partly based on a relay. Perhaps there is hope for the future.
Now purists will no doubt notice the ATmega64 microcontroller in the middle of this project’s main PCB and scream “dirt!” But perfection is the enemy of completeness, as [Michal] explains that he and his son chose Omron relays, which cost $6, and you can only use relay logic until you apply for a second mortgage. Thus, the relays are limited to the calculator’s ALU and the drivers of the six seven-segment LED displays. The microcontroller is used only to perform utility functions such as keyboard scanning and number decoding. All the actual calculations are done in the relay logic, not on the crystal. We’d be remiss if we didn’t praise his son’s stylistic choice for this design – it uses relays with clear covers and a single-sided circuit board with curved, hand-drawn traces that look like old-school hand-drawn traces. Yellow base material. [Michal] would be proud of his father for such fine taste.
For his part, [Mikal] has prepared some very good documentation for this build, including an excellent description of the Boolean mathematics of the half and full adders, as well as how to use relays to create the basic logic gates that make them up. The calculator itself is still a work in progress, and the microcontroller code is still a work in progress, but it works well enough that you can enjoy the clicking effects of the display driver in the video below. If this doesn’t suit you, we have other relay calculators that will suit your needs.
Fabulous. The design and execution are superb. Even if you don’t know anything about it, you can actually see where the information is coming from and where it is going. You don’t even need to know what the device is in advance. For example, a keyboard is clearly a 4×4 matrix, where information flows smoothly into a microcontroller visible in the middle, and small traces coming out of it lead to some other important work being done. This is a study in form following function that belongs in an exhibition in an art museum or a computer science museum.
The board looks like it is a handmade 1981 tape, liquid tinning, handmade screen board. Cute. Mission Complete.
I agree with it. Curved tracks are actually useful too. At higher frequencies, sharp edges can cause reflections. Therefore, it perfectly combines beauty, elegance and practicality. honor.
His designs are truly important and complement great architecture in general! The steepness of the relay did not decrease, but increased.
This is my ASMR. It would be interesting to make several boards with different relay series to explore different sound profiles.
In the Future Hope category for Halloween, I made some star shaped boxes that sit on the ground and change color when you step on them. Next year they will form a competition. Children love them very much.
I was impressed by the three kids who came: one wanted to know which parts were 3D printed, another was trying to figure out the delay in the color shift algorithm, and the third was trying to figure out how to make them all red (the color was chosen randomly))
This is a multiplication video not included in the annotation: https://vimeo.com/880389001/c315de4c25
Last Sunday I attended the Trunk or Treat event. I made a simple bean bag tossing game using a flower pot, an infrared LED, and a Nintendo Switch (running Game Builder Garage). Some teenagers wondered how it was coded, and some attentive young children recognized the Joy Con I used for my infrared camera.
The relay is ordered as G6C-1117P-US 5VDC with 10A/250VAC normally open contacts. The flux-sealed coil has a power rating of 200 mW.
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Post time: Apr-06-2024