Relay-Based Floating Point Square Root Calculator
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 12 พ.ค. 2014
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This is a machine I built to calculate square roots. It uses only electromechanical relays like the early computers of the 1930s. There are 480 of them, each with a light that you can watch on the front panel. No micro controllers in sight! More at simonwinder.com/projects/relay... - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
The phone dial and nixie tubes are the kind of aesthetics I'm missing so much in modern devices.
It certainly makes it feel much more human.
They also look comfortable somehow. Also, I saw a couple of videos showing (vacuum) tube rectifiers (mercury arc) from the old ages, and I was shocked at how cool they look while performing
They're shit, that's why they're not in modern devices.
"Numbers are entered on a phone dial and displayed on a nixie tube"
Stop, I can only get turned on so much...
Uni Realm wait until you see the polished brass frame :)
Jizz overflow...
As a software engineer who created square root and telephone dial reading subroutines in the 1960s, I am VERY impressed with this machine. Achieving this with relays is quite remarkable.
Konrad Zuse actually invented his own cheap relay technology in his apartment, helped by friends. The technology has been lost (or at least I have been unable to find it); it involved strips of tin cut from tin cans, arranged in layered rectangles in right angles to layers below.
We know that these relays were not too reliable, and were affected by nearby trolley cars. In his later designs, Zuse used commercial relays that worked much better. But they were also much more expensive.
Your wiring is a beauty of clean organization.
Don't think they were relays at all. His first two computers were mechanical. The unreliable nature of these mechanical gates is what drove him to try electromechanical telephone relays instead. (After that, he tried vacuum/radio tubes, for speed.)
@@herrbonk3635 Yours is the first I've heard of Zuse having made completely mechanical computers. Do you have a reference for this? If not, how did you hear of it? My research told me that his first computers used unique homemade relays (not well described), stacking them in 3 dimensions, before changing to commercial telephone relays.
@@david203 Not completely mechanical iirc. It had some electromechanical parts. But the main logic, the gates, were mechanical. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z1_(computer)
@@herrbonk3635 Yes, you're right. 20000 parts, amazing! The Wikipedia articles on Z1, Z2, Z3, and Z4 don't seem to mention Zuse's remarkable homemade relays at all. They permitted very compact construction, but some versions were sensitive to trolley cars operating near his apartment.
You can see a reconstruction of a relay Zuse in Berlin, Technisches Museum and one tube machine if I remember well in Karlsruhe.
That little ding when it solves it is soo awesome!
Murdoch493 Too bad it doesn't spit the answer out on a punch card. :-p
Reminds me of that Futurama episode where fry and professor Farnsworth are trying to decode an alien letter from leela's parents to learn about her identity in a big ass machine that does those dings 😂
The operation is too complex, takes time and the operator should know when the operation was completed. It is a charm to hear that "ding" sound.
Reminds me of Willy Wonka. “I am now telling the computer EXACTLY what it can do with a lifetime supply of chocolate”
@@michaelhamilton3527 Now we can actually ask a computer these things, and get some kind of intelligible response. :p
I love that the clock generator is motor driven cam actuated microswitches with a little viewing window to see it running.
So it is a clock-timer and not just decorative - - ?
@@Jeffrey314159 gotta be 100% watch it as it spins an instruction is cycle every time one of the switches are pressed. Likely a JK flip flop. The odd cascades in the relays that seem to come in quick sequence are likely register flags being set which can happen independently of an instruction cycle.
Not only an impressive machine overall, I am especially in love with nixie tubes. They’ve got that incredible retro feeling.
Why this video ONLY has 2k likes is beyond my understanding. I mean the work and skill involved here deserves much better. Hats off to you sir
i come back to this every so often, love seeing this thing in action.
This reminds me of the Casio 14-A, which was a relay-based 4-function calculator (no square root) that was produced from 1957 through 1959. It used 342 relays. There are several videos of it here on youtube.
This machine is truly wonderful. I love the fact it's about as real as it can get, purely mechanical. Hugely impressive, very well done. I've considered building a digital clock that runs on relay logic before. The physicality of them is really fantastic. And that ding when it finishes the calculation is just the icing on the cake.
Very cool, love the sound that relay computers make. I'm building a semi discrete serial CPU, lots of blinking led of course but no sound like relays do.
The rotary phone dial, the nixie tubes, the bell when it‘s finished. I love this thing!
Impressive. As a humble collector of mechanical calculators and avid fan of Konrad Zuse's work I absolutely love your relays machine.
So much went into this amazing machine that I hope he makes up some labels that are worthy of such a beautiful looking peice.
Love the clicking sound of relays.
1:47 i love that sound when its done! haha
this is a beautiful work of art
This is gorgeous. Did you design the power supply as well? This must be one hell of a heater too.
beautiful machine! I really enjoy the nixie tubes. would love to see the logic layout for computing square roots.
Worked on relay logic lift controllers most of my life. Love it.
Impressive work and beautiful finish!
This really makes me appreciate my sweet sqrt() function which only takes a few microseconds to process. We've advanced such a long way from this technology in such a short time. Amazing build.
Let me know when this is available as a kit. :)
And in the winter it makes a great space heater! Too cold? Have it calculate a few square roots!
We need more videos of this outrageously amazing computer… at least one more!! People are out here SALIVATING over this thing.
i really wish this wasn't edited so obnoxiously because this is such a cool project!
This is impressive, congrats. Good luck on future projects!
I love the rhythm it has while doing the calculation!
Brilliant work! Thanks for sharing your amazing work and machine!
This is absolutely the coolest thing I've seen on YT today.
Next project: Machine to solve for the roots of the quintic equation.
Konrad Zuse's computers: Z1 (1938) was mechanical. Z2 (1940) had relays and mechanical memory, and did 16-bit fixed-point arithmetic. The Z3 (1941) used relays, and did 22-bit binary floating point (add, subtract, multiply, divide, square root). It executed programs from punched tape. Memory: 64 22-bit words. About 2,000 relays (1,400 for memory), 5.3 Hertz, 4000 watts. The next models continued improvements. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Z3_(computer)
There's something about old technology that makes it charming to watch.
The bell when it finishes is the icing on the cake
Konrad Zuse would have been proud of You! EXCELLENT workmanship & engineering, hats off to You!
This is an awesome project. Definitely sharing this on Facebook.
My head nearly exploded when I head it ding! I absolutely love this. It's an amazing accomplishment.
Very interesting, and I'm sure it was a lot of work. When I was in High School, in the '60s, I designed a Tic-Tac-Toe playing machine that used relays. I dudn't have enough relays to build all of it.
This is by far one of the most beautiful machines I have seen. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent work Mr. Winder. It's always fun seeing folks still hacking around with older tech. Brings back fond memories!
Incredible Work!
That is absolutely gorgeous.
You must be a bit crazy to build this, but I love it, and I admire your dedication!
Definitely a bit crazy:)
+Kees Nuyt Most engineers are a bit crazy.
Colibri You don't have to be crazy to be an engineer but it appears to help. This is very creative. Display piece, I assume?
This is one of the most beautiful things I've seen
That really is a work of love. Superb job! 🙂
That sound is so satisfying
DING!
"Ooh! The cookies are done."
"Hm? Oh, nah, it just finished calculating a square root for me."
"... Ooh! The computations are done."
i love my computing machines exactly like these one, noise and blinky XD, that's a wonderful machine you have there
🤘👍👍👍🎥💥 Incredible! Chapeau bas! I'm deeply impressed! I really regret that you stopped to develop your channel. On the other hand, I'm not surprised, as you are doing a lot of great work and... yt doesn't promote your channel. 1.78k subscribers for such valuable content is like nothing!
Dude, 100%, a video of you making it would be so cool!
Dude, I absolutely LOVE this. Can't you put up more videos of it calculating other square roots? And I like the idea of the mechanical clock ;) Is it possible to crank it up a bit or is that already the maximum the relays are capable of coping with?
Máquina incrível! Imagino o trabalho que deu para soldar todos esses relés.
I didnt think you could fall for a machine until i saw this beauty
this deserved more views for sure!
Man, this is like 1960's Star Trek stuff! I like it!
one word describes that machine
beauty!
Congratulations; really god job!
Absolutely fantastic
No one should be without one of these.
This feels like an intro for a 1+ hour long video explaining how this works
It’s beautiful!
Man this is so cool.
I really love it!
This is my new Favorite Object in the World. My friend and I were playing with this for 20 minutes yesterday in Bldg 99 and I have never seen a more beautifully crafted marriage of art and retro engineering. It is truly a thing of beauty.
That's a one interesting and also beautiful thing.
this is fantastic! I would love to build one of these.
That is so cool !
Congratulations on finishing an amazingly beautiful machine!
That is one of the coolest things I've seen ! And I'm 49 !
Belle réalisation et magnifique 👍👍👍👍👍👍
Is that spinning cam rotating against microswitches a timing pulse generator or just a decorative item?
A thing of beauty.
Fantastic!
Very cool!
This....I could watch this for hours.
That's very cool (and insane) :D
This is so cool.
Awsome rawr!
That's an awesome machine. How many relays you burn out per hundred calculations lol?
I once worked with an old sharpening tool for long blades, a German made Gockel from the 70's, big cabinet and it was filled these things. You'd hear em click steady when the grinder moved side to side and when it was considering depth. We'd need to replace one every 5 weeks or so, never could predict a blowout.
Love it!
where did you buy the mechanical relays? I need them for a project as well.
relay computers make such satisfying noises
Just perfect.
Superb
This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Marvellous!
i would wish for a nicer bell, but this is an awesome project! :D
Do you have squematics or tutorial for this? Is amazing
Looks like the rotating metal thing next to the display is a system clock used to drive the circutry, like what all modern computational ICs use.
Really, I thought it was simply a display. It rotational period seems too slow
thank you o mysterious youtube algorithm for recommending me this video... absolutery remarkable
Does anyone know what happened to Simon Winder?
His site is no longer accessible and his last upload was 4 years ago.
A few aesthetic critiques: If they arent already, replace the front panel lights with low voltage incandescent for the authentic glow, print out (or better yet, acid etch some brass) a new number card for the input dial as the letters are a bit modern for the feel of the thing, likewise get rid of the vandal proof buttons and find something with a better turn of the 20th century feel (perhaps bakelite morse code paddle buttons? maybe modify the mechanism for a break over action, Bonus: the finger pad of the morse code sending device can have the function name inset into them. Perhaps brass instead of bakelite...), the cam that sets the pacing dump the microswitches and use either a voltage on the cam that contacts a piece of metal that sticks out to complete the circuit or get the simple copper strip contact closure type typically used as limit switches in old electronics (maybe make a little holder with a follower on the cam that pushes a little wooden stick that slides and closes the paddle style contacts, Bigger older school switch next to the dial (maybe something that mimics the large contactor mechanisms in factories of old, and finally the dial replace it with either a wheel style handle like on steam pipes or something like on the top of a variac (bonus points for adding an old brassy steamworks gauge to indicate either motor RPM or operations per second, with a yellow and red line area). As for the rear of the thing with all the LED lights......dont change a goddamn thing! The juxtaposition of the old timey front and the modernized rear is absolutely amazing! Oh, and DO NOT GET RID OF THE PLONK FINISH BELL!!!! Friggin perfect sound for the end of calculation.
Those are just my two cents, some thoughts I had on the thing if you were open to ideas on a second version or overhaul at some point (or if someone else wants to build one of their own). All in all, awesome build, mate! 😎👍
If Im disling, waiting, and hear a beep, I expect a pizza.
Love the bell!
Espectacular
If you enter the "zero" to square root, what will happen? Will it crash or will it click away forever?
Do you have a guide on how to build one? The site you provided is unfortunately down.
I hope this comment make its way to you.
Congratulations for such a piece of retro computing art. Please share the diagram :)
It's on my web site linked in the description
@@robotbugs it's no anymore, where can i find it??? Thanks!!!
you rock!
The Soviets built a desktop calculator's made entirely of relays in 1961. This commercial machine used 8 pin connection relays and a display/register made of electromechanical actuators.
Get this, it appears to be all AC operated!
Checkout the Museum of Old Soviet Calculators!
where is it?
+Powder-phun Go check out on Google for Museum of Old Soviet Calculators, you may find it on the first page. I would email my pictures if I could.
Looks good! Where do I buy one?