You weren't late, just super early for next year, right?

@bornach

Ай бұрын

3 months early for Tau day

@Thegoal2.P

Ай бұрын

@@bornachor pi hour (3:14)

@jasonadamson4693

Ай бұрын

It's all circular logic

@Mr0rris0

Ай бұрын

Is this market forecast joke about analog computing whatever big brother mesh? Aka 100 companies will neglect the world funding their ai so you get to figure out how to make a Nas from broken blenders

@SunroseStudios

Ай бұрын

@@Thegoal2.Pin our house we call that pi o'clock

12:26 DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC DRC Sending a PCB to get fabbed without running DRC first is like deploying a project on a Friday at 4 pm. That aside, neat first PCBs!

@TheAechBomb

Ай бұрын

I've only designed 2 PCBs, what's DRC?

@Bllinker

Ай бұрын

@@TheAechBomb Design Rule Check, the software goes through each and every rule that's defined (clearance, minimum width, unconnected traces) and looks for violations. Of course, stuff like track clearance is being checked continuously during interactive routing (if you haven't purposely disabled that), but some rules do need that separate step of running DRC to be checked. But since we're only human and tend to forget to do stuff like that, I (and many other people) have automated scripts for generating production files that also run DRC beforehand, the thinking there is if you use that instead of generating those files by hand then getting a clean DRC is a prerequisite to getting any production files.

@SianaGearz

Ай бұрын

A friend of mine produces a T-shirt that says RUN DRC with red bars like the RUN DMC logo. But it also has deliberately bad kerning and a red DRC arrow pointing out where the letters almost touch. "The perfect fit for the small intersection of electrical engineering and typography enthusiasts".

@leyasep5919

Ай бұрын

@@SianaGearz that is genius ! I'd love to have one !!! since my latest PCB run had one tiny DRC fault 😛

@RainOrigami

Ай бұрын

so glad EasyEDA doesn't let me generate gerber files without doing DRC first

Fellow Pi calculator here. I calculated Pi to 1,000 decimal places in 1981 using a polynomial expansion that converged two decimal places per iteration. Of course, it took a DEC mainframe computer a whole weekend of CPU time to do it!

@mattsadventureswithart5764

22 күн бұрын

And now, a cheap arduino board from China can do the same calculation in seconds (at most), can run on a battery and costs just a couple of €£$, rather than the silly money that mainframes cost. Progress is wonderful :)

@ImXyper

17 күн бұрын

@@mattsadventureswithart5764 isnt arduino italian

@suhandatanker

6 күн бұрын

​@@ImXyper made in china.

Konrad Zuse invented the relay computer with the Z3 in 1942 - using 2,300 relays to perform floating point binary arithmetic with a 22-bit word length. Very cool to see this elegant implementation of a PI machine. ✨

@0106johnny

Ай бұрын

In 1938 (introduced in 1941), but yeah. Sadly the original Z3 was destroyed in 1943 due to the war

@martinhertog5357

Ай бұрын

The Z1 was a mechanical computer which operates with moving metal rods and sheets. The Z1 also implemented an ALU which could add, subtract, multiply and divide floating point numbers.

@astorjupit6932

Ай бұрын

​@@0106johnnyBut he rebuilt it although it's currently out of order.

As a professional electrical engineer, it’s still just as fun. Layout is my favourite part of the job.

You could create your own punch card puncher and output digits to paper tape without a Raspberry Pi. You can use unary or "punch-card art" to output decimal digits.

@TheAechBomb

Ай бұрын

no, BCD, each digit as four bits on a 4-bit-wide tape :D

@olonerr

25 күн бұрын

PUNCH CARD UNDERTALE???!!

he has blessed us with another yearly upload

I really appreciate the use of indicator lamps that look like they would’ve come off a period-correct telephone exchange

This reminds me of a machine I was once responsible for. It was called the "Omni 2000". The Omni was a rack tester. It would check that everything was connected to what it was supposed to be connected to and that nothing was connected to anything it wasn't supposed to be connected to. The Omni had 7000 reed relays. Guess what the most common failure was... I still remember the sound of the self test, as it whizzed through all the relays. It was controlled by a PDP/8.

8:20 - I still find it theraputic even for huge boards, its fun to make art of PCBs, something who ever assembles the kit enjoys looking at. 12:41 - It absolutely helps to look at a pcb manufactures capabilities and looking at their min spacing and rounding that up, for example JLCPCB has a min trace thickness and clearance of 0.127mm but I say go to 0.15mm, also account for whos putting it together like, is it possible the edge of the PCB is going to get damaged or a solderng iron slips and damages a trace right next to a pad, so space things apart acordingly.

Here's a great algorithm for approximating pi that may be better suited to your approach: just generate a digit at random, and if the raspberry pi detects that the digit is incorrect, it resets the relays to a clean state and starts that section over again. Don't worry, the computation is still all happening on the relays. Just a tiiiny bit of error correction. :)

@pompeymonkey3271

Ай бұрын

Agreed. Memory? I can live with that. Error detection totally defeats the point. :)

@christianbarnay2499

Ай бұрын

@@pompeymonkey3271Error detection in itself is not the issue. It would be okay if it was internal, like asking the same relay setup or another one to compute each digit several times and compare them together. The actual defeat is using a precomputed value to control the output. If the precomputed value has an error, the output will have the same error.

@hvip4

Ай бұрын

Nice

@fracapolligummala3548

Ай бұрын

@@pompeymonkey3271The memory is also a joke. Defeats the purpose completly.

@ashleybyrd2015

Ай бұрын

@@fracapolligummala3548but what are you supposed to do about that lol? there are certain constraints that one must make concessions for, this way it can (theoretically, at least) compute 4096 digits without needing 2000 relay boards.

Would love it you posted the pcb designs and schematics for this build for others to replicate. Great work!

This is something someone could feasibly make in Minecraft. Sadly I don't have the skills needed for it as of now

@DerKlemm-Crafter

Ай бұрын

Don't give me ideas :D

@jwl423

Ай бұрын

We have full 8 bit cpus in Minecraft

@brianjones9780

Ай бұрын

​@@OmarRodriguez-vl2tq A guy made a very simplified version of Minecraft on a redstone computer in Minecraft. It's on KZread.

@AfonsoBucco

Ай бұрын

@@OmarRodriguez-vl2tq while my 4th gen i5 can not run Minecraft after certain update.

@aydenlokey3641

Ай бұрын

I mean, a relay would just be a piston with a redstone block on the end where an extended piston is a 1 and a nonextended is a 0.

3:20 "a relay is a way for a circuit to rewire itself" that's such a beautiful way of describing relays.

Matt Parker would absolutely LOVE this machine. Good job!

I'm not sure where you've been these last couple of years, but it's always a pleasure when you upload a video.

You just built a pinball machine... without the pins... or the ball...

@AaronOfMpls

Ай бұрын

Indeed, before about the late 70s, the logic in those was basically a relay-based computer. Technology Connections has a couple videos breaking down much of the logic behind one -- as well as another one exploring an old jukebox.

@amazingbutno5303

Ай бұрын

Or the cabinet… or the game…

@Colorado_Native

Ай бұрын

... or the 'n'.

@Lgwasherfan5623

Ай бұрын

*Machine*

@pompeymonkey3271

Ай бұрын

@@AaronOfMpls Thanks for reminding me to watch part 2!

Science Elf once again periodically dropping an absolute banger

I suspect your sticky registers solved by gravity stems from the close physical proximity of all of the relays - the magnetic fields couple and you end up with behaviour like that. You can fix that by giving the components some distance, or adding some magnetic shielding.

I love how this guy just disappears for a while then comes back to drop the most science-y thing imaginable, then making it an enjoyable experience to ride along. Keep it up!

What's not to like?! A machine that outputs Pie?! 😋 Looks like I have to build myself one!

@Colorado_Native

Ай бұрын

Or you can buy a machine that dispenses pizza pie.

The thumbnail shows a machine finishing the printing of PI, so apparently the Science Elf is immortal 😮

Finally my yearly fix of the Science Elf.

Thanks for citing my 2021 #PiDay project. Love your very clear explanation of how your relay computer works

I was waiting for the part of the video where you show the machine in operation. Sad to say I was disappointed! But you can redeem yourself, if only you would post a video featuring the machine operating, with sound, video, and no voiceover or music. Just let us experience the ambiance for a little while! Pretty please?

The transparent relay was a pretty neat thing to see, demonstrates how every step of this process is directly corresponding to flipping a switch. Also I laughed out loud when you compared a relay to a railroad switch just because I'm currently using relays to control model railroad switches.

Worth the wait. Amazing work as per usual.

I could listen to that all day! You should upload an hour or so long video of it operating.

The capabilities of relays got me thinking. You could, in theory, use relays for reversible computing. A DPDT relay could implement a CSWAP gate. Set it up so that the coil takes the control signal and the two switches either pass or swap the inputs. The common pin serves as the output, and one switch will connect A on normally-closed and B on normally-open, and vice-versa for the other one.

youre by far my favorite tech channel, even if theres a long while between videos im always excited when i see a video in my sub box :)

There was a time long ago when all technology was powered by electromechanical relays. Even the telephone network was operated by relays. I’m glad that the technology is making a comeback.

Perfectly nerdy. Congratulations!

Wow that is awesome! I wish you had more video of it working with all the clicking, maybe you can live stream the machine working ❤

A fun and interesting hobby and video. Especially the ding :-) Thank you for sharing. Cheers from Canada.

Damn, you just keep raising the bar. I love every project you have done. They are the exact kind of project I'm always thinking of doing but I never get around to do or give up mid way, so I do admire your work (maybe even envy a little lol) This one is the kind you see in the corner of someone's room and instantly earns you respect and mega cool points. It seems we follow a similar path but you are always many steps ahead! It stills feels daunting to me to dabble with pcbs but it's been on my list for years. Anyway, I'm glad you kept the amazing work going. Oh, and I almost forgot. A little fact I learned a few years ago about the spigot algorithm used here is that it was discovered/invented by none other than the creator of the amazing software ffmpeg! That guy's resume must be wild.

Insane! Love it!

That's incredible!

Now I want to see it made with beautiful tubes!

A truly enjoyable video. 😎

Now this is gonna be so cool

Reminds me of having to implement complex fixed point math in CPLDs without multiplier blocks or RAM. Used a lot of the same binary tricks as well as some custom definitions for subtraction to reduce the logic.

Very nice. Yes I have often been fascinated with the sort of bitwise tricks that used to work back in 8 bit ML days -- e.g. 10x = 2x + 8x. Somebody up there likes us.

Science Elf has sent gives us another gift! Thank you! ❤

This is crazy cool. I learnt heaps. Thanks for sharing :)

This is insane!

I love your project, I love walnut veneer too. One tiny annoying note: Run a sanding block along the edges, and you'll smooth out those harsh transitions and it will look slick!

Completely useless, but utterly beautiful! I'm very impressed. And jealous of your patience and determination.

Its always a good day when the science elf uploads (:

Could you please make a ten hour recording of that beautiful ticking noise, please

@bluestone-gamingbg3498

Ай бұрын

YES PLEASE

You have inspired me, a welder, to see if I can make a lawnmower engine powered abomination to calculate PI and punch it in on toilet paper or paper towels or something. I’ll keep feeding it toilet paper and god only knows how far it will go.

@Poopshit420

Ай бұрын

What does the lawnmower do? It makes carbon monoxide. Is that legos in its construction? Yes. Why is there a knife taped to a fan on it? Because I put it there. How are you supposed to stop it? You don’t. Why is that lug nut glowing? Because I said so. How much did this cost? I don’t know but I bought most of it on Craigslist so probably cheap. Are you sure that attaching that part with Elmer’s glue is a good idea? No. Why? Probably.

Love relay logic stuff

I love being reminded you exist every half year lol

To stay analogue you could try doing the storage on ferrite memory cores. Next year maybe?

Relays let you make super fast carry chains, Conrad Zuse was a pioneer with this technique, back in the 1940s 🙂

I find a humorous irony in using an entire computer to control a pile of relays and a printer. You could have gotten away with at least a Pi Pico, I bet :)

Awesome video as always!!

You do realise how big the market for that would be ? Either complete or kit form? Who wouldn't want one on their bench, just waiting to clatter out a printout.

Relay logic walked so.....well basically so all electronic logic could run, but it reminds me so much of a very visceral, hands-on, simple way of thinking about IP blocks in verilog on an FPGA, at least with respect to the way you've made pcbs for muxers and other logic. So cool, and deliciously clicky! 🙃

Really cool concept!

Neodinium magnet embedded and two metallic discs, one with π and one with τ so you can show off the mode. The switching of the metal discs also done using relays. Think about it!

a pi gadget i've always kinda wanted was a micro computer that represents pi using light and sound, features of the gadget include: a button to calculate the next digit a button to play back the currently stored digits a button to swap modes a 10x10 grid of multicolored LEDs to display pi two modes, one that only advances only when the button is pressed, the gadget plays the full sequence when it generates the new digit, each number 0-9 being assigned one of 11 notes with the spare note going to the decimal the second mode streams digits continuously for as long as the device is able to continue calculating new digits the lights each decide their color based on digits of pi that stream from right to left, bottom to top, excluding the decimal, each light gets up to six digits, if a digit is not available the position is filled in with a zero

1+3 is the same as 3+1 so it's more like 50 pairs of sums. And the most important part of basic decimal arithmetic is determing the positional values. So once you know that 7 + 3 = 10, it's easy to remember 7 + 4 as (7 + 3) + 1 and 4 + 7 is just reversing the digit order. The slowest way to do the math is to take the first number and add 1 the number of times as need. 7 + 6 7 + 1 = 8, 8 + 1 = 9, 9 + 1 = 10, 10 + 1 = 11, 11 + 1 = 12, 12 + 1 = 13

Verrrry cool!

this is art

so awesome!

Neat project.

Genius!

Holy cow dude, impressive. Trying to break into, get to this level its just the want factor I got other stuff going on. But I was trying to just keep this laptop busy computing Pi see what happens. That must have been what lead to this video suggestion.

could be a fun project to try this with transistors, see how fast it goes in comparison :D

LOVE IT 🙌

that bin to bcd hack was genius! i was wondering the whole time how you would make double dabble work at the same time the number is being computed

To avoid issues such as the short you had in your PCBs always run the DRC(design rule check) which looks for errors on your layout.

Great project and a lovely little machine! The only negative is we didn't get a "30 minutes of clicking and blinken lights" ASMR video.

This is an awesome video so much i must RELAY it to my friends 😂

this is super cool

Just discovered this channel, please give us access to the gerber files and the design of the board, or better a in-depth video! This thing is friggin awesome

Oh hello welcome back to KZread

Very nice!

we need a 1h asmr version of this

Should've built a datasette drive into the machine as the Pi storage. Then you'd have a relay computer with a tape drive!

i didn't understand a thing you said but it's cool

12:30 RUN DRC. Also good PCB companies used to warn you that you have a spacing violation.

My lysdexic eyeballs totally swapped part of the video title with your channel name, giving me "Building an Elf-Powered Pi Machine." That may not be this video, but it's a video I would totally watch should you make it.

Fantastic

Well done! Though I didn't understand much :D

Now we know the problems of relays, you could make a video replacing every relay of a car with something that has no moving parts. My 93 GM Kadett E will be happy.

even with complex boards, routing can be fun

Just 256 bits storage gets already huge indeed. Using this logic though a continous tape loop could be used since you only need 1 bit at a time in sequence 😊. It would also be interesting to see how they did error correction in the old days

This video uploaded on my birthday :D

This machine is so cool, but I can't unsee that the paper strip in the thumbnail is the wrong way around...

Now I want to build it. This needs to be a pcb.

I would love to see a long video of this just running

To improved the reliability make sure each relay has a flyback diode on its coil to prevent voltage spikes welding the contacts of the relays you had trouble with

I just found it really funny that the way you did the thumbnail implies that the machine started with the LAST digit and finally ended at the first after infinite time and infinite amounts of paper and ink have been used

Very cool

In theory wouldnt using the digit picking algorithm and then just going place by place be the best method for printing out a strip like this? It would no longer need any memory except for which digit its actually trying to compute, then using that the relays would turn that number into the digit, which the printer is then told to print. This would get around the issue you list in the end where it gets harder to compute the longer it goes, if it only focuses on the immediate digit then all are equal, and it can calculate as long as the clock counter stays within however many bits the machine operates on.

Awesome video! I was hoping there would be a good 30-60 second clip at the end of the machine running so I could savor the clicky clicks. 😢 Also, I was 100% certain there was a PCB Way sponsor spot coming when you started talking about the PCBs 😂

@simplicityd8703

Ай бұрын

Same

3:25 In a way, a relay is a way for a circuit to rewire itself, kinda like a railroad switch. Me: _They are literally _*_used_*_ in railroads!_

Poor relay life can come from un-snubbed coils: the current in a coil wants to keep flowing - if you feed a relay coil from other relay contacts, when the contacts open the current continues anyway, creating an arc across the contacts. This arc chews up the contacts, causing early failure. Adding a diode across each coil (cathode to +) fixes this. Some relays have this diode built in as an option.

the modular boards are so cool bruh