- American researchers have built a mechanical computer
- It is made from metal bars and springs and is capable of performing basic computer operations.
- This could pave the way for significant technological advances and “could help improve people’s lives by having artificial limbs or more responsive touch rooms.”
Can we build a PC from springs and metal bars that works entirely mechanically, without any electricity? No, of course you can’t, but it is possible to create such a device that can perform basic calculations and does not require any power.
Interesting Engineering highlighted a project led by researchers at St Olaf College and Syracuse University, which was published in the scientific journal Nature.
The paper, titled “Mechanical Hysterons with Tunable Interactions of General Sign,” describes a mechanical computing platform that uses connected steel bars and springs.
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Joey Paulsen, associate professor of physics at St Olaf College, explains: “We usually think of memory as something in the hard drive of a computer or in our brains. However, many everyday materials retain some sort of memory of their past – for example, rubber can “remember” the extent to which it was compressed or stretched in the past.
“The research team wanted to understand if we could use everyday materials not only to memorize movements, but also to process information – or calculate.”
This is indeed possible since scientists were able to build three mechanical computers.
The first project could count (up to three), and a second computer was able to determine whether it had been pushed an even or odd number of times. A third was designed to remember whether medium or large force had been applied to it, and all without a battery in sight.
Rotors next, then forward and up from there?
Obviously, these initial inventions are relatively basic, and while it is impressive to build something capable of doing functional computing out of simple pieces of metal – which has of course been done in the distant past – one wonders what the point of all this is, aside from the novelty of such a mechanical platform.
Well, firstly, there could be a lot to build on here in terms of combining these kinds of mechanical innovations. One of the next steps for researchers will be to examine scalability here. (They are currently testing how the state of one rotor affects its interaction with a second rotor, with a view to adding a third).
Mechanical computing platforms may also have serious real-world applications, particularly in harsh environments where traditional solutions will not work or even survive. For example, in extreme heat, a mechanical computer could operate in scenarios in which the silicon chips would melt.
Paulsen notes: “Our results are a step toward designing materials that can sense their environment, make a decision, and then respond. Frequently called smart materials, what we’ve learned could help improve people’s lives by having artificial limbs or more responsive touch rooms.
This is not the first time that such concepts have been explored in the contemporary technological world. A few years ago, scientists at North Carolina State University created a mechanical computing design using a series of pushed and pulled plastic cubes to capture, store and use data.
Now, a computer made of plastic cubes, what does that remind me of? Oh yes, that rather nifty PC built from Lego bricks from earlier this week…
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