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Maker and classic computing fanatic Trevor Flowers has put collectively a miniaturized 3D-printed reproduction of the Connection Machine 2 — full with its iconic matrices of flashing lights to mesmerize passersby.
“Earlier than we had GPUs, earlier than we had multiprocessor private computer systems, and earlier than all of us settled for beige pc instances there was the Connection Machine 2, a massively parallel hypercube-based association of 1000’s of microprocessors,” Flowers writes by means of introduction to the system. “The unique, with its many blinkenlights, was 1.5 meters [around five feet] throughout, and so this 1:10 scale model is 15 centimeters or rather less than 6 inches throughout.”
This mannequin Connection Machine has a considerably simpler process than its full-scale predecessors: driving 4 LED matrices.(📷: Trevor Flowers)
The unique Connection Machine, often called the CM-1, was launched in 1985 by Pondering Machines Company. Constructed round a hypercube-based 12-dimensional routing community connecting as much as 65,536 particular person processors, the massively-parallel machines have been produced till 1994 when less complicated supercomputers constructed by connecting off-the-shelf processor nodes and graphics accelerators collectively grew to become commonplace.
Flowers’ recreation does not, sadly, have 65,536 particular person processors — and even one-tenth of that quantity, in step with the dimensions. What it does have is a 16×9 LED matrix on every of the 4 entrance panels, mimicking the diagnostic show of the actual deal — and pushed by an Adafruit QT Py S3 microcontroller and an IS31FL3731 Charlieplexing LED driver, able to enjoying basic animations or turning the machine right into a desk clock.
“With assist from a few full sized Connection Machine house owners,” Flowers writes, “I’ve reproduced this glorious machine right down to the smallest particulars, together with the {custom} vents that run between the primary cubes.”
The reproduction was modeled on real-world Connection Machines, and contains the custom-designed vents between every dice. (📷: Trevor Flowers)
This is not the primary time Flowers has created a compact desk accent impressed by a basic piece of classic computing. Final month the maker put collectively a Tandy-Radio Shack TRS-80 reproduction with a working show, powered by CircuitPython on an Adafruit QT Py S3 — giving the system significantly extra computing energy than its full-scale predecessor, regardless of the distinction in dimension.
Extra data on the challenge is on the market on Flowers’ retailer, the place items have been being offered for $325 — although, on the time of writing, inventory had been depleted. These within the software program aspect of issues can discover the challenge’s supply code on Codeberg, underneath an unspecified license.
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