DonationCoder.com forum
 
Read-only archive. This is a static copy of the DonationCoder.com forum. Reading and searching work as before; logging in, posting and private messages do not.
Archive of 2026-10-21 · About this archive · Main site

Author Topic: Babbage Difference Engine & Antikythera Device - in LEGO!!!  (Read 4,955 times)

JennyB

  • Test all things - hold fast to what is good
  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • **
  • Posts: 212
Quote
Having always loved complex mechanical devices, and never having fully outgrown LEGO, I decided to explore where computational mechanics and LEGO meet. This is not LEGO as toy, art, or even the MindStorms® fusion of LEGO and digital electronics. This is almost where Steampunk and LEGO meet. Hand cranked devices that perform complex mechanical tasks.

The Antikythera Mechanism, based on an original from 150 B.C.E., predicts solar eclipses.
The Difference Engine model can compute 3rd order polynomials.  8)

Found via Zoe Brain - my kind of geek!  :Thmbsup:
If you don't see how it can fail -
you haven't understood it properly.
« Last Edit: March 31, 2011, 03:36 AM by mouser »

Deozaan

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,827
    • Participated in NANY Challenge Eight Times
    • Cody Award
Re: Babbage Difference Engine & Antikythera Device - in LEGO!!!
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2011, 10:00 PM »
Cool stuff. Your first link needs an L at the end of htm for it to work. :Thmbsup:

40hz

  • Supporting Member
  • Joined in 2007
  • **
  • Posts: 11,861
Re: Babbage Difference Engine & Antikythera Device - in LEGO!!!
« Reply #2 on: March 30, 2011, 11:15 PM »
Very cool. Also thanks for the link to A.E. Brain's blogsite.  :Thmbsup:

Bookmarked it for a more leisurely perusal later on.  Which (for me) is a pretty rare thing.  :)

Original address: https://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=26236.0