Windows is about as slow as molasses on a frigid January morning. You won't simulate thousand of anything.
I didn't necessarily mean a Windows PC, but in my experience programs running under Windows are just as fast as programs running under Linux. SpinSim under Windows can run Spin bytecodes much faster than a Prop can. The same Spin program written in C can run a thousand times faster on a Windows PC than on a Prop running Spin. I can send you some code if you want to try it.
What is the purpose? Just to have some hobby fun - you could follow the earlier posts to see the interest areas.
Yes, the main purpose of a hobby is to have fun. I can understand that. Part of the fun is learning new things, and I can see the Big Brain providing that also. Sometimes it is rewarding accomplishing something the hard way instead of doing it the easy way.
Shouldn't this whole thread be considered a Blog? I'm not quit sure how this fits in the the Robotics Forum, where most of the posts have to do with moving objects with servos or steppers, using Parallax processors. I realize there are Propellers involved in this project, but I don't see any mechanical movement.
Yes, I have been following since day one.
You are a better man than me to compose those "Post Computer Crash" post on an iPhone that look identical to the previous posts.
Publison, it is challenging to post with an iPhone, but possible. The trick is to enlarge the screen then scroll back and forth to click the controls. Also a tip, open up cover pages and save each. Then when you open up Safari next time, the Parallax Brain Forum page is already loaded and waiting. I also do a simple skeleton post, then go back over it with formatting, grammar, and spelling, which is more challenging. There's much more work involved.. doable but challenging..
Agreed, there is a fine line between some posts and blogs but for the sake of keeping it all together and minimizing links and minimizing scrolling back and forth with multiple page links to the Blog section (which is a nightmare on my slow internet)... it may be the difference between being able to post and not post at all... also there is more formatting diversity in this section as I recall.
In regard to the robotics side of the Brain.. have patience.. the Brain is not nearly complete and future call is for servos and some use of the pin I/O array, i.e. each dual partition contributes 3,200 controlling I/Os. You can be assured we will call upon your robotics knowledge to harness three dual partitions worth of I/O and you may even want to wire it with the several ten thousand wires just to follow along.
Edit: the Brain has a Brain guts section dedicated to motion control. This is entirely for robotics and robotics control. Refer to the Brain Stem for more information.
After the Brain is hardware complete, it will received a hardware robotics interface and platform for mobility, motion, etc. This is part of the overall Brain plan.
I didn't necessarily mean a Windows PC, but in my experience programs running under Windows are just as fast as programs running under Linux. SpinSim under Windows can run Spin bytecodes much faster than a Prop can. The same Spin program written in C can run a thousand times faster on a Windows PC than on a Prop running Spin. I can send you some code if you want to try it.
Dave, I think this is a fantastic idea and I can just see a pc array connected to the Brain handling a very fast computational array thousands of times faster than SPIN and PASM.
I understand that - in fact I had run across the SpinSim with C when running Prolog research. But we all know how Windows slows down until it's not usable. I think you're talking about the ideal state of Windows. Why don't we get a bunch of PCs set up, and run 1,000 simulated props wired with software on each? You are THE man to volunteer for this project!
Yes, the main purpose of a hobby is to have fun. I can understand that. Part of the fun is learning new things, and I can see the Big Brain providing that also. Sometimes it is rewarding accomplishing something the hard way instead of doing it the easy way.
Exactly, and the hard way usually produces the greatest learning experiences.
Another translation was forwarded today. It appears that the old computer and drive is in some state of function and workability. After this is confirmed, the system could be used to hot boot LINUX. The problem with this is new functions cannot set on the CD. A new drive could also be installed. But probably not worth the effort as the keyboard is shot too.
Roughly 30 Apple computers were studied and analyzed. All 30 were trialed at the computer store. While graphics and photos are absolutely stunning, there is an anomaly in the formation of text as formed by the anti-aliasing engine. Apple cites no solution, however, two models exist with minimal blurring. Oddly enough, these are portable laptops with 17 and ~15 inch screens and a keyboard that sets half the width of the computer away from you, certainly a strain to use for any typing period of "reaching over" the sensitive track pad. I wonder what bird brain came up with that idea...
I found out what kind of service you get with Apple in China. The small cushion came off the earplug on my Apple iphone. I asked for a simple cushion replacement, they told me to register on the computer through internet (in Chinese), make an appointment, take a number and wait one half month! You can see there is no service. They (in China) definitely won't get any of my business.
Brain Drive & Computer Update 04.26.11 The Brain's Lost Files
The Brain is still "mothballed" and in a state of "limbo," waiting for its lost files. But the time is near and soon we'll know if some Brain content can be returned to the Brain.
The schedule is on for a jet aircraft delivery of the computer and drive tonight around midnight. This will include one additional external drive with the restored files. The drive restoration company informs me that restored files does not necessarily mean they will work and the majority of files will probably not open. Now that sounds like a bad omen if I ever heard one.. Still, it's important to have some hope and go through the steps and see if we can recover any of the Brain's lost files. It could literally save years of work if files are in a workable condition. The soonest that something could be reported on the file status is April 27th.
Remote Brain Posting Carry your posting "computer" in your shirt pocket
Photos show the differences between remote posting tools - for posting into the Brain thread using a Netbook and a phone.
The netbook is running FireFox Portable browser and the phone is running Safari.
Landscape mode with the Apple iPhone and ASUS EEE PC
Switch to portrait mode just by tilting the phone
Images and text are razor sharp and clear but you may need glasses to see it,
or simply enlarge the screen with a two finger expand motion and view
smaller sections.
..it is challenging to post with an iPhone, but possible. The trick is to enlarge the screen then scroll back and forth to click the controls. Also a tip, open up cover pages and save each. Then when you open up Safari next time, the Parallax Brain Forum page is already loaded and waiting. I also do a simple skeleton post, then go back over it with formatting, grammar, and spelling, which is more challenging. There's much more work involved.. doable but challenging..
Taking Inventory - It looks like there's a lot of potential hobby computer inventory in the form of new and used computers, both Mac and PC, which could be used for some purpose. However, each seems to have a challenge to overcome.
* Netbook (won't run the Propeller Tool)
* iBook (too old and too slow)
* Mac Book (Chinese OS & missing system CDs)
* IBM ThinkPad (too old, failed)
* Off brand PC (OS too old)
etc.
While some of these computers may prove useful in the future, they are currently of limited use to the Brain. Research continues in the selection of a new Brain computer.
What model ThinkPad? They were some of the best laptops ever made (at least before Lenovo took them over). My T23 is still my main laptop, running WinXP, and it's plenty fast enough. I've also got a 600 running Mandrake Linux, but it's pretty slow. 'Thinking of moving to Puppy Linux on that one. The best thing about the older ThinkPads (and the reason I bought mine) is that they don't have those utterly useless touchpads, opting instead for TrackPoint sticks.
What model ThinkPad? They were some of the best laptops ever made (at least before Lenovo took them over). My T23 is still my main laptop, running WinXP, and it's plenty fast enough. I've also got a 600 running Mandrake Linux, but it's pretty slow. 'Thinking of moving to Puppy Linux on that one. The best thing about the older ThinkPads (and the reason I bought mine) is that they don't have those utterly useless touchpads, opting instead for TrackPoint sticks.
Good to hear you have good luck with the non-Lenovo brand. Maybe Lenovo is a fake IBM. This one is a 1G T60 with CD-RW, and the LENOVO logo all over it. It also has the touchpad which I used a few times when the mouse failed, to reboot the computer. It also has a red stick - unused.
It came without system CDs, which is a crock. What bird brain thought of restoring a hard drive from the same crashed hard drive? They are idiots trying to make a fast buck! The keyboard on this failed numerous times with specific keys worn out, not making contact or intermittent contact. The lettering on the cheap key caps wore off. I had to install paper lettering.
Although it may be the better choice of PC brands, it's the cheapest poor quality goof-ball computer I ever owned. Previously I was using Apple only, but took on the PC to enlarge the range of native software that runs on it, notably the Robonova humanoids, native Stamp, etc.
The irony of it all is that I may be stuck with PCs for running certain native software. Apple is very good but it's starting to look a lot like a down-payment on a car or house!
Stats on the Restored Hard Drive - the Brain Wins! Almost nothing is restored
Preliminary inspection is strange. Lots of files have strange extensions and don't open. Only a couple JPG photos only show 1/3rd of the image (out of thousands). All DOC files are damaged. What survived? Ironically, one SPIN Brain software (the most important test one) survived along with some Brain LED tests. It's a bitter sweet victory but the Brain wins, everything else loses.
The important thing now is to find the latest Brain schematic. A JPG will do fine. Although it was in-the-works, its information would be invaluable. Agreed, everything is in my Brain, but with its very slow humanly access time, it could take ages to figure out the design again and redraw it, not to mention finding a new drawing program for circuits on the Mac!
The next step is trying more aggressive software to see if more files will open. The afternoon is open for this task.
In the future, I must consider posting incomplete test code, and let everyone scold me for such bad undeveloped incomplete code. At least the development code would be saved on the Forum for retracing and reconstruction should that become necessary.
The schematic was post and then retracted for a newer schematic being developed.
Then the hard drive crashed.
Now I could use the outdated schematic to create a new schematic.
Did anyone save a copy?
I tried the Wayback machine on this but didn't know how to link it.
Even though you removed the schematic from the post, it may still live among your attachments. Try editing the post, click "Go Advanced", then "Manage Attachments". Scroll around in your attachment collection in the window that pops up, and see if it's there.
Even though you removed the schematic from the post, it may still live among your attachments. Try editing the post, click "Go Advanced", then "Manage Attachments". Scroll around in your attachment collection in the window that pops up, and see if it's there.
Good idea but unfortunately it's not in the attachment collection.
Potential Apple AMD Radeon HD 6750M Graphics Card
480 Stream Processors for programming
In the past, an Apple video card was programmed while it was inside the Apple computer. This opens up all new possibilities for programming the AMD 6750 with its 480 stream processors while inside the Brain Macintosh computer.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.43958.0.html
The AMD Radeon HD 6750M (sometimes also called ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6750 or similar) is a fast middle class graphics card for laptops. It supports DirectX11, is the successor of the HD 5750, and features higher clock rates, 80 more shaders, Eyefinity+ and the new UVD3 video decoder. However, it is still produced in 40nm and based on the same Whister chip as the whole 6700M and 6600M series. First informations also suggest, that the HD 6750M is a 6650M with GDDR5 memory.
The 480 Stream processors should be still based on the ... 5D architecture similar to the 5000 series. Therefore, the number of shaders is not comparable to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Tessellation performance should be improved (like the desktop 6800 series) with the new cards. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. With the later two the cores can also be used for general computations like transcoding videos.
ManufacturerAMDRadeon HD 6600M/6700M SeriesRadeon HD 6770M 480@725MHz Radeon HD 6750M 480@600MHz Radeon HD 6730M 480@725MHz Radeon HD 6650M 480@600MHz Radeon HD 6630M 480@485MHz
CodenameWhistler-PROPipelines480 - unifiedCore Speed *600 MHzShader Speed *600 MHzMemory Speed *900 MHzMemory Bus Width128 BitMemory TypeGDDR5Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 11, Shader 5.0technology40 nmNotebook Sizemedium sizedDate of Announcement04.01.2011Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/...
* The specified clock rates are only guidelines for the manufacturer and can be altered by them.
Today is the first day tryout of Mac. The experience is so fantastic that I'm sure this computer could dedicate completely to the Brain. Interesting that this is a later MacBook (with Intel two processors) but new to the Brain arsenal, and it runs so much better than the former MS Windows PC.
The Big Brain project is being stepped up after the recent incidents. More resources are now being dedicated to the Brain. It looks like the Brain is moving in a very good direction and resources are being added to not only preserve and maintain its important data, volumes of newly created software and various platform programming, but enabling a source of hardware which is replaceable, renewable and re-scaleable.
Big Brain Step-Up Features
More Multi-Processors (more Propeller chips)
More Computing Platforms (addition of Mac and other computers)
More Powerful Computers (Intel Quad Cores and Radeon 480 Streaming Processors)
More Advanced Archival Methodology (built into OS)
The Brain is being configured currently with a MacBook computer. Although some programs work on the MacBook, others do not. The search is still on for a good schematic drawing program. It looks like OmniGraffle is a good choice but this is not a freeware software. Also, it won't run on the current Tiger level of OSX on the MacBook. However, the text issues were resolved by lowering the screen resolution and putting anti-aliasing to mid level for flat screens. You could do this with other Mac computers. The text is now highly visible, smooth, and bold where it needs it. It is interesting to note, the same solution for MacBookPro is the opposite, with Snow Leopard, to raise screen resolution to maximum in the graphics card high end configuration (and antialiasing, set to on).
The new current research includes the design path to add just over 1 TeraFlop of computing power to the combined Brain Propeller aggregate. How will this be accomplished? The design includes an array of additional processors. This is obviously based on hobby project affordability. Projected affordability limit includes at least 720 additional processors. OpenCL provides the required programming access. A TeraFlop of power will be a considerable Brain boost. However, with projected upgrades at more expense, compatibility exists with 3,072 added Brain processors and over 5 TeraFlops of additional computing power.
Brain Programming Languages Selection SPIN, OPENCL, PBASIC, PASM, XCODE
In a new step-by-step research program, the Brain is having its hardware and software greatly expanded in ways to achieve an incredible amount of Brain computational power. How is this accomplished? One, by adding additional processors, two, by adding on additional programming languages, and three, by increasing the computational power into the TeraFlops realm.
In addition to Propeller SPIN and PASM, additional processors and host boards will have additional programming languages. Hosted BASIC Stamps will have PBASIC programming and additional processors will program in OpenCL - The open standard for parallel programming of heterogeneous systems.
http://www.khronos.org/opencl/
"OpenCL™ is the first open, royalty-free standard for cross-platform, parallel programming of modern processors found in personal computers, servers and handheld/embedded devices. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) greatly improves speed and responsiveness for a wide spectrum of applications in numerous market categories from gaming and entertainment to scientific and medical software."
The Propeller side of the Brain is being connected to the ProMac side of the Brain to append a sum of incredible resources. In earlier posts, discussion included the merits and computational power of state-of-the-art computers. It's now time to harness this massive computer power along with the incredible magnitude of power that comes from a large aggregate of aligned Propeller chips.
What does this indicate for the Brain?
Portability
High resolution graphics
Multi-core add-on processing
TeraByte Storage
Programming in Multi-Core Languages
Add-on TeraFlop processing power
Voice Processing
TTS Text To Speech
Speech Recognition
Speech Command System
Several GigaBytes of RAM Memory
ThunderBolt Data Transfer Rates of 10Gpbs
FireWire 800
80211nWiFi Wireless
USB Ports
HD Vision CAM
High Speed Hard Drives
1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
1GB GDDR5
Wireless Mouse & Keyboard
Bluetooth Wireless
SuperDrive DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW
SDXC Card Slot
LiPo Battery Driven (7-hours)
Quad-core Intel Core i7
64-bit computing: applications address a theoretical 16 billion gigabytes of memory, or 16 exabytes.
New Ideas for Autonomous Brain Backup
Cloning from Backup
The new Brain system will take into consideration automatic backup of Brain. Brain will include a place in online "active" archive that includes its own programming which the Brain will autonomously backup, without human intervention, as planned. Residency will include that programming and data located on distributed hard drives which will be available for backup. Backup will likely occur during sleep as a multitasking function maneuver, possibly coexisting with charging, dreaming, and crunching. Crunching deals with important self maintenance that occurs during sleep. Cloning is the most likely outcome of backup. Cloning allows the complete and total restoration of a hard drive which for one reason or another is taken out of commission. Software is currently being selected for both incremental backups and complete cloning systems. The Clone will be made bootable to facilitate complete compatibility with programming and files.
Robotics programming and robotics hardware are now obtained and is being prepared to add to the Brain, giving it complete robotics control. What do the early initial stages of robotic control include? Keep in mind that the Brain has a specific Brain Stem which by design is intended for control of servos. The Brain Stem, as you recall, is interfaced to the Brain Base to give it complete ability to communicate with the vast number of Propellers. Robot motions include Brain movements such as lurching forward and aft, Brain rotating (in a solution of Cryogenics or normalized air), plus directional turning, spinning, ramping up and ramping down for more stable mobility, incremental mobile displacements, and other possibilities to include the movements of eyes for example. It is also possible to automate the EXO and provide wiring shielding/protection in mechanical arrangements or even move I/O devices from inside the Brain to the outside of the Brain. An automated Brain physical compression folding is possible through mechanical robotics. Other considerations include the attachments of preformed Brain Stumps for signaling, pushing, shoving, sliding, swinging, batting, swiping, and nudging.
Zoot, thanks for the research on Brain part names. From what I see at the web site is an unregistered name. There's no notice posted or product identifying the name as a registered trademark (R) and not even a notice for a trademark (TM), though clearly the two words run together are being used as a name for a product. It's put together as one word. In our Brain project, Brain Stem, two words, comes directly from the Brain Stem identification in the human brain, anatomy and medical technology, and is open source, to match the project.
The Brain's Brain Stem also appears as two words in this field and this is the field reference we use is as a part of the Brain. We also reserve additional names as open source which are common parts of the human brain and anatomy for hundreds of years. While this is an open source project, there is nothing being sold, no company or business, and thus, no competing nature. Even if one decided to go into business manufacturing Brains, open source non-registered names, i.e. parts of the Brain are open field for use, just as the propeller board can name the parts of this product (for example, board, capacitor, chip, resistor, crystal, reset, light emitting diode, I/O, breadboard, gate, clock, etc.)
One thing noticed after several decades is the reoccurring nature of names in technology. As with open source projects, other people see it and can adapt the technology and naming conventions. I would encourage individuals and companies to do so. This is the nature of open science. I have seen original robot names appear, and suddenly, numerous names appear on the web, including use in businesses, after but not before. As Sir Isaac Newton once said, "We stand on the shoulders of giants..."
Big Brain Design Breakthroughs with PROPELLERS & MACS
I'm working really hard on the machine brain for robots. (see brain wiring for Propeller array overview) The latest info is all about adding Macs to the Brain and incorporating those resources. Let's consider the new design overviews and the implications.
Another Big Brain breakthrough!
When the power of the MacPro is added to the Brain, the resources like 4+ Gig of memory are also added. The power of the Propellers is that they now (currently) hold over 100,000 working machine neurons. With the Mac, in the near future, it's possible to put the same structure of these neurons into its resources.
2nd big Brain design breakthrough
The Mac add-on, since going with the more powerful model and updating the Brain design, increases processors from an additional 320 to 720 computers. This is fantastic! I believe it is possible to program these individually for the Brain aggregate, thus adding a truly massive number of more machine neurons. Best modest guess at this point, within the same memory as the programmed Propeller chips, about 720 x 1,000 = 720,000 more neurons. But we could have over a thousand times more memory... making 720,000,000 neurons possible.
A Billion Neurons
When all the totals come in, we'll see a potential one million neurons, leading to the most sophisticated machine brain in the world, in terms of machine neural matter substantive injection. Plus now it's realized there are two other Macs which could add to the Brain. Taking the Mac memory into account, a million neurons could be cloned into one billion. That's going to give the human brain some competition, in terms of neural numbers. This leads to other challenges, i.e. how do you handle a billion of anything? The most likely solution there lies in autonomy.
Coming along the Brain Pipeline
With a financial investment from backers, over 3,000 more computers can be added per board each time with each upgrade or expansion instance, in terms of single board increments, and thus potentially several boards could add on. This truly pumps up the neural matter to over a trillion cloned and exceeds the human brain. What will we do with all this incredible machine Brain power? Anything you want...
I'm very excited about this new approach to a powerful humanoid robot brain, so much that I'm working around the clock on it. I think there is really something in the human spirit that triumphs over adversity. Had we not lost the Brain's initial Windows computer and hard drive, we would not have gained the massively more powerful Brain with Mac computers. Stay tuned as all this development is taking some considerable time.
Comments
-Phil
Yes, I have been following since day one.
You are a better man than me to compose those "Post Computer Crash" post on an iPhone that look identical to the previous posts.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=977025&viewfull=1#post977025
Agreed, there is a fine line between some posts and blogs but for the sake of keeping it all together and minimizing links and minimizing scrolling back and forth with multiple page links to the Blog section (which is a nightmare on my slow internet)... it may be the difference between being able to post and not post at all... also there is more formatting diversity in this section as I recall.
In regard to the robotics side of the Brain.. have patience.. the Brain is not nearly complete and future call is for servos and some use of the pin I/O array, i.e. each dual partition contributes 3,200 controlling I/Os. You can be assured we will call upon your robotics knowledge to harness three dual partitions worth of I/O and you may even want to wire it with the several ten thousand wires just to follow along.
Edit: the Brain has a Brain guts section dedicated to motion control. This is entirely for robotics and robotics control. Refer to the Brain Stem for more information.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=977025&viewfull=1#post977025
After the Brain is hardware complete, it will received a hardware robotics interface and platform for mobility, motion, etc. This is part of the overall Brain plan.
Dave, I think this is a fantastic idea and I can just see a pc array connected to the Brain handling a very fast computational array thousands of times faster than SPIN and PASM.
I understand that - in fact I had run across the SpinSim with C when running Prolog research. But we all know how Windows slows down until it's not usable. I think you're talking about the ideal state of Windows. Why don't we get a bunch of PCs set up, and run 1,000 simulated props wired with software on each? You are THE man to volunteer for this project!
Exactly, and the hard way usually produces the greatest learning experiences.
Another translation was forwarded today. It appears that the old computer and drive is in some state of function and workability. After this is confirmed, the system could be used to hot boot LINUX. The problem with this is new functions cannot set on the CD. A new drive could also be installed. But probably not worth the effort as the keyboard is shot too.
Roughly 30 Apple computers were studied and analyzed. All 30 were trialed at the computer store. While graphics and photos are absolutely stunning, there is an anomaly in the formation of text as formed by the anti-aliasing engine. Apple cites no solution, however, two models exist with minimal blurring. Oddly enough, these are portable laptops with 17 and ~15 inch screens and a keyboard that sets half the width of the computer away from you, certainly a strain to use for any typing period of "reaching over" the sensitive track pad. I wonder what bird brain came up with that idea...
I found out what kind of service you get with Apple in China. The small cushion came off the earplug on my Apple iphone. I asked for a simple cushion replacement, they told me to register on the computer through internet (in Chinese), make an appointment, take a number and wait one half month! You can see there is no service. They (in China) definitely won't get any of my business.
The Brain's Lost Files
The Brain is still "mothballed" and in a state of "limbo," waiting for its lost files. But the time is near and soon we'll know if some Brain content can be returned to the Brain.
The schedule is on for a jet aircraft delivery of the computer and drive tonight around midnight. This will include one additional external drive with the restored files. The drive restoration company informs me that restored files does not necessarily mean they will work and the majority of files will probably not open. Now that sounds like a bad omen if I ever heard one.. Still, it's important to have some hope and go through the steps and see if we can recover any of the Brain's lost files. It could literally save years of work if files are in a workable condition. The soonest that something could be reported on the file status is April 27th.
Carry your posting "computer" in your shirt pocket
Photos show the differences between remote posting tools - for posting into the Brain thread using a Netbook and a phone.
The netbook is running FireFox Portable browser and the phone is running Safari.
Landscape mode with the Apple iPhone and ASUS EEE PC
Switch to portrait mode just by tilting the phone
Images and text are razor sharp and clear but you may need glasses to see it,
or simply enlarge the screen with a two finger expand motion and view
smaller sections.
..it is challenging to post with an iPhone, but possible. The trick is to enlarge the screen then scroll back and forth to click the controls. Also a tip, open up cover pages and save each. Then when you open up Safari next time, the Parallax Brain Forum page is already loaded and waiting. I also do a simple skeleton post, then go back over it with formatting, grammar, and spelling, which is more challenging. There's much more work involved.. doable but challenging..
The Brain index is now updated to include pages 25 through 33.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=977025&viewfull=1#post977025
Are they useful?
Taking Inventory - It looks like there's a lot of potential hobby computer inventory in the form of new and used computers, both Mac and PC, which could be used for some purpose. However, each seems to have a challenge to overcome.
* Netbook (won't run the Propeller Tool)
* iBook (too old and too slow)
* Mac Book (Chinese OS & missing system CDs)
* IBM ThinkPad (too old, failed)
* Off brand PC (OS too old)
etc.
While some of these computers may prove useful in the future, they are currently of limited use to the Brain. Research continues in the selection of a new Brain computer.
-Phil
Good to hear you have good luck with the non-Lenovo brand. Maybe Lenovo is a fake IBM. This one is a 1G T60 with CD-RW, and the LENOVO logo all over it. It also has the touchpad which I used a few times when the mouse failed, to reboot the computer. It also has a red stick - unused.
It came without system CDs, which is a crock. What bird brain thought of restoring a hard drive from the same crashed hard drive? They are idiots trying to make a fast buck! The keyboard on this failed numerous times with specific keys worn out, not making contact or intermittent contact. The lettering on the cheap key caps wore off. I had to install paper lettering.
Although it may be the better choice of PC brands, it's the cheapest poor quality goof-ball computer I ever owned. Previously I was using Apple only, but took on the PC to enlarge the range of native software that runs on it, notably the Robonova humanoids, native Stamp, etc.
The irony of it all is that I may be stuck with PCs for running certain native software. Apple is very good but it's starting to look a lot like a down-payment on a car or house!
Almost nothing is restored
Preliminary inspection is strange. Lots of files have strange extensions and don't open. Only a couple JPG photos only show 1/3rd of the image (out of thousands). All DOC files are damaged. What survived? Ironically, one SPIN Brain software (the most important test one) survived along with some Brain LED tests. It's a bitter sweet victory but the Brain wins, everything else loses.
The important thing now is to find the latest Brain schematic. A JPG will do fine. Although it was in-the-works, its information would be invaluable. Agreed, everything is in my Brain, but with its very slow humanly access time, it could take ages to figure out the design again and redraw it, not to mention finding a new drawing program for circuits on the Mac!
The next step is trying more aggressive software to see if more files will open. The afternoon is open for this task.
In the future, I must consider posting incomplete test code, and let everyone scold me for such bad undeveloped incomplete code. At least the development code would be saved on the Forum for retracing and reconstruction should that become necessary.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?130554-Parallel-Propeller-Loader
The schematic was post and then retracted for a newer schematic being developed.
Then the hard drive crashed.
Now I could use the outdated schematic to create a new schematic.
Did anyone save a copy?
I tried the Wayback machine on this but didn't know how to link it.
-Phil
480 Stream Processors for programming
In the past, an Apple video card was programmed while it was inside the Apple computer. This opens up all new possibilities for programming the AMD 6750 with its 480 stream processors while inside the Brain Macintosh computer.
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.43958.0.html
The AMD Radeon HD 6750M (sometimes also called ATI Mobility Radeon HD 6750 or similar) is a fast middle class graphics card for laptops. It supports DirectX11, is the successor of the HD 5750, and features higher clock rates, 80 more shaders, Eyefinity+ and the new UVD3 video decoder. However, it is still produced in 40nm and based on the same Whister chip as the whole 6700M and 6600M series. First informations also suggest, that the HD 6750M is a 6650M with GDDR5 memory.
The 480 Stream processors should be still based on the ... 5D architecture similar to the 5000 series. Therefore, the number of shaders is not comparable to the 1D cores of current Nvidia GPUs. The Tessellation performance should be improved (like the desktop 6800 series) with the new cards. The Stream processors can be used with DirectX 11, OpenGL 4.1, DirectCompute 11 and OpenCL. With the later two the cores can also be used for general computations like transcoding videos.
ManufacturerAMDRadeon HD 6600M/6700M SeriesRadeon HD 6770M 480@725MHz
Radeon HD 6750M 480@600MHz
Radeon HD 6730M 480@725MHz
Radeon HD 6650M 480@600MHz
Radeon HD 6630M 480@485MHz
CodenameWhistler-PROPipelines480 - unifiedCore Speed *600 MHzShader Speed *600 MHzMemory Speed *900 MHzMemory Bus Width128 BitMemory TypeGDDR5Shared Memoryno
DirectXDirectX 11, Shader 5.0technology40 nmNotebook Sizemedium sizedDate of Announcement04.01.2011Link to Manufacturer Pagehttp://www.amd.com/us/products/notebook/...
Today is the first day tryout of Mac. The experience is so fantastic that I'm sure this computer could dedicate completely to the Brain. Interesting that this is a later MacBook (with Intel two processors) but new to the Brain arsenal, and it runs so much better than the former MS Windows PC.
Some things noticed immediately:
The Big Brain project is being stepped up after the recent incidents. More resources are now being dedicated to the Brain. It looks like the Brain is moving in a very good direction and resources are being added to not only preserve and maintain its important data, volumes of newly created software and various platform programming, but enabling a source of hardware which is replaceable, renewable and re-scaleable.
Big Brain Step-Up Features
More Multi-Processors (more Propeller chips)
More Computing Platforms (addition of Mac and other computers)
More Powerful Computers (Intel Quad Cores and Radeon 480 Streaming Processors)
More Advanced Archival Methodology (built into OS)
The Brain is being configured currently with a MacBook computer. Although some programs work on the MacBook, others do not. The search is still on for a good schematic drawing program. It looks like OmniGraffle is a good choice but this is not a freeware software. Also, it won't run on the current Tiger level of OSX on the MacBook. However, the text issues were resolved by lowering the screen resolution and putting anti-aliasing to mid level for flat screens. You could do this with other Mac computers. The text is now highly visible, smooth, and bold where it needs it. It is interesting to note, the same solution for MacBookPro is the opposite, with Snow Leopard, to raise screen resolution to maximum in the graphics card high end configuration (and antialiasing, set to on).
The new current research includes the design path to add just over 1 TeraFlop of computing power to the combined Brain Propeller aggregate. How will this be accomplished? The design includes an array of additional processors. This is obviously based on hobby project affordability. Projected affordability limit includes at least 720 additional processors. OpenCL provides the required programming access. A TeraFlop of power will be a considerable Brain boost. However, with projected upgrades at more expense, compatibility exists with 3,072 added Brain processors and over 5 TeraFlops of additional computing power.
SPIN, OPENCL, PBASIC, PASM, XCODE
In a new step-by-step research program, the Brain is having its hardware and software greatly expanded in ways to achieve an incredible amount of Brain computational power. How is this accomplished? One, by adding additional processors, two, by adding on additional programming languages, and three, by increasing the computational power into the TeraFlops realm.
In addition to Propeller SPIN and PASM, additional processors and host boards will have additional programming languages. Hosted BASIC Stamps will have PBASIC programming and additional processors will program in OpenCL - The open standard for parallel programming of heterogeneous systems.
http://www.khronos.org/opencl/
"OpenCL™ is the first open, royalty-free standard for cross-platform, parallel programming of modern processors found in personal computers, servers and handheld/embedded devices. OpenCL (Open Computing Language) greatly improves speed and responsiveness for a wide spectrum of applications in numerous market categories from gaming and entertainment to scientific and medical software."
The Propeller side of the Brain is being connected to the ProMac side of the Brain to append a sum of incredible resources. In earlier posts, discussion included the merits and computational power of state-of-the-art computers. It's now time to harness this massive computer power along with the incredible magnitude of power that comes from a large aggregate of aligned Propeller chips.
What does this indicate for the Brain?
Cloning from Backup
The new Brain system will take into consideration automatic backup of Brain. Brain will include a place in online "active" archive that includes its own programming which the Brain will autonomously backup, without human intervention, as planned. Residency will include that programming and data located on distributed hard drives which will be available for backup. Backup will likely occur during sleep as a multitasking function maneuver, possibly coexisting with charging, dreaming, and crunching. Crunching deals with important self maintenance that occurs during sleep. Cloning is the most likely outcome of backup. Cloning allows the complete and total restoration of a hard drive which for one reason or another is taken out of commission. Software is currently being selected for both incremental backups and complete cloning systems. The Clone will be made bootable to facilitate complete compatibility with programming and files.
Robotics programming and robotics hardware are now obtained and is being prepared to add to the Brain, giving it complete robotics control. What do the early initial stages of robotic control include? Keep in mind that the Brain has a specific Brain Stem which by design is intended for control of servos. The Brain Stem, as you recall, is interfaced to the Brain Base to give it complete ability to communicate with the vast number of Propellers. Robot motions include Brain movements such as lurching forward and aft, Brain rotating (in a solution of Cryogenics or normalized air), plus directional turning, spinning, ramping up and ramping down for more stable mobility, incremental mobile displacements, and other possibilities to include the movements of eyes for example. It is also possible to automate the EXO and provide wiring shielding/protection in mechanical arrangements or even move I/O devices from inside the Brain to the outside of the Brain. An automated Brain physical compression folding is possible through mechanical robotics. Other considerations include the attachments of preformed Brain Stumps for signaling, pushing, shoving, sliding, swinging, batting, swiping, and nudging.
Zoot, thanks for the research on Brain part names. From what I see at the web site is an unregistered name. There's no notice posted or product identifying the name as a registered trademark (R) and not even a notice for a trademark (TM), though clearly the two words run together are being used as a name for a product. It's put together as one word. In our Brain project, Brain Stem, two words, comes directly from the Brain Stem identification in the human brain, anatomy and medical technology, and is open source, to match the project.
The Brain's Brain Stem also appears as two words in this field and this is the field reference we use is as a part of the Brain. We also reserve additional names as open source which are common parts of the human brain and anatomy for hundreds of years. While this is an open source project, there is nothing being sold, no company or business, and thus, no competing nature. Even if one decided to go into business manufacturing Brains, open source non-registered names, i.e. parts of the Brain are open field for use, just as the propeller board can name the parts of this product (for example, board, capacitor, chip, resistor, crystal, reset, light emitting diode, I/O, breadboard, gate, clock, etc.)
One thing noticed after several decades is the reoccurring nature of names in technology. As with open source projects, other people see it and can adapt the technology and naming conventions. I would encourage individuals and companies to do so. This is the nature of open science. I have seen original robot names appear, and suddenly, numerous names appear on the web, including use in businesses, after but not before. As Sir Isaac Newton once said, "We stand on the shoulders of giants..."
I'm working really hard on the machine brain for robots. (see brain wiring for Propeller array overview) The latest info is all about adding Macs to the Brain and incorporating those resources. Let's consider the new design overviews and the implications.
http://forums.parallax.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80373&d=1303292475
Another Big Brain breakthrough!
When the power of the MacPro is added to the Brain, the resources like 4+ Gig of memory are also added. The power of the Propellers is that they now (currently) hold over 100,000 working machine neurons. With the Mac, in the near future, it's possible to put the same structure of these neurons into its resources.
2nd big Brain design breakthrough
The Mac add-on, since going with the more powerful model and updating the Brain design, increases processors from an additional 320 to 720 computers. This is fantastic! I believe it is possible to program these individually for the Brain aggregate, thus adding a truly massive number of more machine neurons. Best modest guess at this point, within the same memory as the programmed Propeller chips, about 720 x 1,000 = 720,000 more neurons. But we could have over a thousand times more memory... making 720,000,000 neurons possible.
A Billion Neurons
When all the totals come in, we'll see a potential one million neurons, leading to the most sophisticated machine brain in the world, in terms of machine neural matter substantive injection. Plus now it's realized there are two other Macs which could add to the Brain. Taking the Mac memory into account, a million neurons could be cloned into one billion. That's going to give the human brain some competition, in terms of neural numbers. This leads to other challenges, i.e. how do you handle a billion of anything? The most likely solution there lies in autonomy.
Coming along the Brain Pipeline
With a financial investment from backers, over 3,000 more computers can be added per board each time with each upgrade or expansion instance, in terms of single board increments, and thus potentially several boards could add on. This truly pumps up the neural matter to over a trillion cloned and exceeds the human brain. What will we do with all this incredible machine Brain power? Anything you want...
I'm very excited about this new approach to a powerful humanoid robot brain, so much that I'm working around the clock on it. I think there is really something in the human spirit that triumphs over adversity. Had we not lost the Brain's initial Windows computer and hard drive, we would not have gained the massively more powerful Brain with Mac computers. Stay tuned as all this development is taking some considerable time.