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This story is from the category Computing Power
Date posted: 22/06/2012 To honor Alan Turing, the Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) built a simple LEGO Turing Machine — part of the Turing’s Erfenis exhibition at CWI — to show how simple a computer actually is, making every operation as visible as possible and using just a single LEGO MINDSTORMS NXT set. CWI’s LEGO Turing machine uses a tape based on a classic interpretation of computer memory: switches. It also uses a light sensor to determine the value of a switch: if the switch is on, the sensor will see the black color of the switch’s surface; if off, the sensor will see the white color, making it possible to distinguish between the states. A rotating beam mounted above the tape can flip the switch in both directions. Alan Turing’s original model had an infinite tape, but LEGO had a slight problem supplying infinite bricks so they chose to fix the tape size to 32 positions. See the full Story via external site: www.kurzweilai.net Most recent stories in this category (Computing Power): 25/05/2013: Rice unveils method for tailoring optical processors |
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