Mechanical CPU Clock 37
An anonymous reader writes "I designed this CPU clock to help people learn about how a CPU works. The Mechanical CPU Clock shows the basic building blocks of a CPU (ALU, buses, RAM, registers, and a Control Unit). It executes a set of instructions which will emulate a simple wall clock. A detailed build/explanation is available on instructables.com."
Nice! But confused about writeup: (Score:4, Interesting)
Brilliant work, but I find his terminology confusing.
From what I can see, there's really only one register - since the "registers" are linked, he can only store a 4-bit number (plus an instruction counter in the form of the track "flag"). "Register B" is really an instruction to clear both the register and the instruction pointer, and "'registers A&C"' are really an [inc A, if A<11 then IP=0 else IP=1] instruction. From this perspective, it's a two-instruction, one-register machine.
I only did that because I just couldn't get nine instructions and three different registers from watching the device function.
Am I the only one to see it that way? Are both ways (at least partially) valid?
Digi-Comp II Reincarnated? (Score:3, Interesting)
Reminds me of the Digi-Comp II that I had as a kid. It had the same rocker type mechanisms which simulated registers. See: "http://www.oldcomputermuseum.com/digicomp_2.html#"