At 05:50 PM 9/23/2004, you wrote:
Amazing, huh? If I read that right, it's 52 relays
though (I don't know
any German) which makes it sound rather like a 'simple' relay control
system rather than an actual relay computer. I fired off an email to
them to see if they'll let me have a nose at the wiring diagrams.
I was just thinking that it would be an interesting challenge to build a
fully mechanical version - no electrical parts whatsoever. Steam-powered
pong, that'd be different... "Babbage Pong", maybe... :-)
And given the light loading involved, why not use wooden gearing instead
of metal: "Organic Pong"...
Is the Museum of Automata still open in York (England)?
Fascinating place that had all sorts of mechanical marvels like this.
I remember an archer that would pull an arrow out of his quiver, shoot it
at a target, then retrieve the arrow and shoot again - all mechanical.
Amazing stuff.
But it's been a few years, and recently I couldn't find anything on the web
about them.
Ed K.