Going back to the question of the sound of a moped traveling within ear shot distance of the BWM during operations, yes it would pick up the noise. However, I would hear it too and simply disregard the data. In a future post some actual data will be provided, i.e. actual sounds from the Propeller brain, and indeed these particular brain samples do sound like a moped in some ways!
Brain Wave Sound The sound of a thinking Propeller brain
Note: Disregard the low res movie content. The file is for sound only, although one can correlate the LED on/off frequency image status with the sound and the pin states.
The BWM is an inductive monitoring device with sound output. In this test, a Propeller circuit is set up with four states and the output is fed to the BWM pickup. The setup is designed to detect the status of a pin with the default program and provide audio to discern differences in the waveform.
This is raw unprocessed sound from a thinking Propeller chip, captured with the Brain Wave Machine and a SONY digital camera used as a data recording device.
BWM Propeller Suspended Animation
Exploring the Machine Brain with EEG BWM Brain Wave Monitor
Note two regions of Suspended Animation
While monitoring the Big Brain's Propeller chip with the EEG Brain Wave Monitor connected to a PEK circuit, a period of Suspended Animation was confirmed. This is accomplished by holding RESn low continuously. Power consumed goes from 16mA to 9mA during this function and a relative lack of brain waves occur. This halts program execution and the chip remains powered up and alive.
This can be used as a technique in calibrating the EEG BWM prior to taking readings, halting programs to create dead band space or separators, and making markers on output charts. The dots are artifacts and can be ignored.
With all the interest in collecting joules, it's easy to develop an interest in the harvesting of electrical energy from human and/or machine brains.
According to sources, the electrical energy from a human brain is extremely small though it can be picked up with EEG and in the case of a machine brain, on BWM machines.
But how small or large is this collective potential in the arrays of the Big Brain? What we are currently investigating is the power consumption of individual Propeller chips based on their executing programs and usage of the following elements:
combinations of cogs
code activities
pin engagement
order of engagements
clock
etc.
We know that in higher power devices, electrical energy transmits through free space, to light light-bulbs in Physics experiments and to charge batteries with no connecting wires for high tech devices. This transfer of electrical energy through inductive means is possible in minute amounts from sources of radio wave energy.
You can use several free programs with the Apple iPhone to record and analyze machine brain waves with the BWM machine digitally and introduce signal processing.
Voice Memos
Voice Memos will record sound for long periods of time. It has a signal strength VU meter. During playback it indicates a time scale, start and stop and saves the sample. Total time is calculated. A slider allows positioning playback at any point in the time scale with start and stop controls and a time indicator.
Voice Plus
Voice Plus will record and either stretch or compress the signal. It has two slow speeds and two fast speeds for playback. Voice Plus will also run the signal track in reverse and shift the frequency higher or lower.
The Voice Machine
The Voice Machine will record a sample and loop it into playback with a start stop setting and a slider to set audio speed from very slow to very fast and everything in between.
Dictation
Dictation is a basic digital recorder with standard playback controls. It can stop and start, rewind, fast forward, change position with a slider, and has a "Remaining" scale with time indicator. The playback has a useful Pause feature. Special edit controls allow a sub segment to be configured and played.
Cryogenic Unit piping leading to
inside of EXO for super coolant
distribution - component parts fit
inside the EXO. New lower cost
design uses a Cryo Tank on the
outside
___________________
This past week, a trip to Centralized Electronics & Computer Surplus where about 200 stores are located resulted in a mission to obtain parts and materials for The Big Brain's Cryogenic Unit.
Status
The project was placed on hold due to the high cost of required Cryo parts. This past week was a revival to obtain lower cost materials using a newer design.
Requirements
The Big Brain project is continually working on a low cost version super coolant dispensing agent that can help reduce temperatures in high speed over-clocking projects.
Method
The post photo shows the Cryo Dispensing System. The CDS is made up of a tube and pipe distribution. High pressure delivers cold particulars of Dry Ice CO2 to boards or plane arrays of Propeller chips to cool either the EXO from the inside out or generate a top freeze wash for planar boards.
Availability
Although dry ice is available from various stores, it's more convenient to manufacture it in the lab when needed, and in the exact quantity for usage session.
Systems
A second system is in the works that is highly directional and will be used to freeze individual chips. This deep freeze system design is robot automated with a dispensing servo.
http://www.continentalcarbonic.com/dryice/ Definition
Dry ice is pure, solid carbon dioxide (CO2). As a gas, CO2 exists naturally in our environment. It's called "dry ice" because it does not melt. Dry ice goes directly from a solid to a gas in a process called sublimation.
Dry Ice Characteristics
Dry ice keeps items colder for much longer than traditional “wet ice” because dry ice is extremely cold, -109 degrees F (-78.5° C). Dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas instead of melting, leaving no liquid mess to clean up which is why dry ice blasting is a popular and environmentally friendly way to clean.
Making Dry Ice
Making dry ice requires a source of CO2 [carbon dioxide] that comes from industrial processes such as those in ethanol plants. Carbon dioxide is a gas. It can be put under pressure and converted to liquid carbon dioxide [LCO2] that must be kept under pressure in a tank to remain liquid. As liquid CO2 is exposed to normal air temperatures, some of it immediately turns back to a colorless gas [CO2], and some of it freezes into "snow" which can be pressed into dry ice pellets or blocks using hydraulic pressure and a dry ice pelletizer or dry ice block press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_ice
Dry ice, sometimes referred to as "Cardice" or as "card ice", is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is used primarily as a cooling agent. Its advantages include lower temperature than that of water ice and not leaving any residue (other than incidental frost from moisture in the atmosphere).
Warning!
The extreme cold makes the solid dangerous to handle without protection due to burns caused by freezing (frostbite). While generally nontoxic, the outgassing from it can cause suffocation due to displacement of oxygen in confined locations.
Advantages
...with the P8X32A-D40 and the dry ice method there is no condensation to short out close or wide-spaced pins. That's because of pure sublimation. No water involved. Dry Ice is non toxic, non corrosive, non conductive and does not damage any metal surfaces. It goes directly from a solid to a gas with no liquid-state melting in between. It also does not require on board or external power consumption like the Peltier requires.
As it's electrically nonconductive, it's used for cleaning by pellet blasting surfaces, and for surface to chip deposition in just the right amount on boards in diagnostic troubleshooting when the board is powered up.
Hello humanoido,
Happy New Year!
I've posted my robot project in a forum that actually allows in-progress projects ):< ( http://www.darwinbots.com/Forum/index.php/topic,3512.0.html )
So, this is relevant because I think the software I'm working on might interest you. It combines a cellular neural network very similar to Brian's brain controlled by a genetic algorithm to allow learning. Unfortunately, I cannot begin programming until February, and even so the programming will take months, but I DO have the basic structure of the program laid out, and you are more than welcome to base your software off of my design. Good luck!
-Jon
Jon, how is your project coming along? Any updates that I missed?
... Just how hot is the "Big Brain" going to get? With all that dry ice talk, I was curious...
Looks to me like he's headed for a brain freeze. Humanoido, you know you can get one of those just by sucking down a Slurpee.
But seriously, dude, dry ice is so cold it will cause water vapor in the air to condense upon it, and that bit of water can mix with the CO2, which then produces a mild acid. So if you don't take precautions to keep your humidity low, you might end up with something that eats your brain while it cools it. Just a thought my brain had.
Looks to me like he's headed for a brain freeze. Humanoido, you know you can get one of those just by sucking down a Slurpee.
But seriously, dude, dry ice is so cold it will cause water vapor in the air to condense upon it, and that bit of water can mix with the CO2, which then produces a mild acid. So if you don't take precautions to keep your humidity low, you might end up with something that eats your brain while it cools it. Just a thought my brain had.
ElectricAye:
Nice sweater!
I already considered Slurpees - they only get down to a sweet 32 deg. F.
Water droplets cannot condense on Propeller chips because liquid water cannot exist on a chip cooled continuously at -109 degrees F (covered with a pure insulating layer of solid dry ice).
We're holding a One Year Anniversary Party for the Big Brain over the weekend. Everyone's invited!
I'm checking on appointments at the University of Technology to possibly see the new humanoids and also checking the Exposition Lecture agenda through the university where they host Brain research.
Some interesting facts, the Big Brain is the largest Parallax machine ever built in my smallest lab. There's over 300 smaller machines built from the beginning of 2002 to 2011, a ten year period, so I could learn about putting together multiple processors.
The first multi-brain was made from several Parallax Stamps placed into a humanoid robot built from Parallax Toddler robot parts.
The Big Brain's official first post was on August 5th, 2010.
The Big Brain uses Propeller chips. Out of respect to its heritage and to remain compatible with ten years of development, a BASIC stamp is designed into its Brain Stem.
In building humanoid robots, they were consistently lacking in two things - a long lasting battery and a powerful brain. I wasn't interested in working with battery chemicals so I chose to develop a brain.
The brain began by many suggestions from Parallax Forum members.
The Brain has many supporting projects posted in the Brain thread. The most recent is a Brain Wave Monitor that can see and hear the thinking of Propeller chips.
The Brain led to offspring, several smaller brains, even including a controversial two prop brain in a jar that won Parallax's Project of the week.
The one year mark is time to reflect on where the Brain was, is now, and where it's going. It's not over yet. The journey has only just begun.
It's more about the journey than the destination - the path we choose, the things we learn and develop along the way and the new friends we make.
Stay tuned. I will continue trying new and unusual things, pacing the Big Brain, making some small discoveries, and growing the artistic, creative edge. There are future treats in store for those following along.
I want your presence, comments and input here. Be respectful to each other. We are all different. We look different, think different, have different projects, hold different knowledge, education and capabilities. We are at different levels, ages and places. It's important to respect these differences. Working together, embracing the differences, I believe we can improve a small part of the world, and make it a better place for everyone.
That, in a peanut butter jar, would be funny, I don't care who you are, that would be funny stuff right there... Congratulations Humanoido, keep on moving forward, Hoa Wa'a,(paddle harder), and all that.. -Tommy p.s.: Just how hot is the "Big Brain" going to get? With all that dry ice talk, I was curious about what kind of tempatures are expected?
Tommy:
Thanks. We'll have a great anniversary celebration this weekend. You're invited!
Your humor for Brain in a Jar is appreciated. I didn't see any jars big enough to hold the Big Brain. Probably a several hundred gallon aquarium could contain it and provide a viewing window (without the fish).
How hot is the Brain? It won't become hot because it has dry ice to keep it cool.
We have found ways to continually lower the power consumption with an array of props including a standby mode that can last a long time and hold programs.
Minimal circuits are less power consumers.
Special code has low power saving statements, sequences and modes.
Props can be operated at less voltage.
Plus now we have circuits that are Joule savers.
It's now possible to build a circuit which detects loss of power and then diverts immediately to a joule saving device with a battery.
Another venue is the construction of an intelligent joule device that's level detectable and switchable to engage a battery array for greatest longevity.
Of course a lot of the power requirements may abruptly change when hypering an array of Propeller chips.
Thanks Humanoido, I am allways up for a party err.. celebration.. or in this case, cerebellation.. :nerd:
I have two 80 gallon tanks, one long and one tall, the tall one is 32"depth X 36"long X 15"wide,
Lots of water, but not as much real estate compared to the long tank, 20"depth X 72"long X 18"wide,
540"sq.in VS 1296"sq.in. of bottom space... they both can handle boiling water,
but not so sure about freezing them solid with dry ice though, never had to try, ich and every other
fish disaster, boils away nicely...
oop's, I drifted, sorry about that..
Anyways, what should I bring to the cerebellation?
-Tommy
p.s.: glad you thought the knitted sweater brain in a jar would be funny, of course, it didn't matter who
you are, that was funny stuff right there...
I have two 80 gallon tanks, one long and one tall, the tall one is 32"depth X 36"long X 15"wide, Lots of water, but not as much real estate compared to the long tank, 20"depth X 72"long X 18"wide,
540"sq.in VS 1296"sq.in. of bottom space... they both can handle boiling water, but not so sure about freezing them solid with dry ice though, never had to try, ich and every other fish disaster, boils away nicely...
Those tanks must be spectacular when filled with colorful tropical fish. To keep a cryogenically super cooled brain inside a glass tank would require some insulation surrounding the brain and its dispensing coolant so as not to break the glass. An clear acrylic or other plastic outer layer surrounding the EXOskeleton at a distance of about 8-inches to a foot would protect the glass. Frost and condensation could occur, unless a bottom mounted fan could circulate the air.
The Cerebellation Begins
One year Propeller Big Brain Anniversary celebration
Our one year Big Brain Anniversary celebration, cleverly coined Cerebellation by Tommy (Ttailspin), is now under way. We opened with a picnic lunch that led to sharing and exchanging brain stories and distributed numerous free electronic books with circuits and data perfect for adding new stuff to BASIC Stamps, Propeller chips, and multiple chip brains.
Somehow conversations led to the Joule Thief and reducing power consumption in multi-chip big brains! Now we're planning the movie schedule inside air conditioning to beat the outdoor heat and the Goby desert storm that moved in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobi_Desert
Following the movies, we'll have the grand tour of the Big Brain Little Lab Facilities, and a brief showing of the Big Brain and it's many small brain offspring in action. It will be followed by a brain question and answer session.
After, the mini-paper session will begin, with an opportunity for our attendees to report on their projects, findings, research, discoveries, ideas and goals.
We're looking for someone here that can serve as compounder to create a Proceedings publication of the 1st Big Brain Anniversary Meeting. This would be a great way for people that live far away or where it's not practical to attend, can read about the proceedings.
If you’d like to be a part of this event, even though attending is not possible, you may submit a one or two page report about your project, or brief summary (or forum link) and we’ll see about including it remotely in the proceedings. Send it to the email listed below or post the summarizing information and/or link at the the Big Brain thread.
With Peltier Junction modules on sale for $9 each and configured to cool just one chip, and considering two Brain Partitions are composed of 100 propeller chips, the cost of $900 would be too expensive for the project. (but good for long term use)
For a $20 to $30 budget, a dry ice machine or coolant propellent machine can be fabricated to make dry ice for numerous uses and multiple applications across all 100 Propeller chips. (good for testing and experiments)
Brain Coupler Decouplers are now necessary for the Big Brain, to ensure operations of individual sections. Sections include Left Brain, Right Brain, Top Brain and Bottom Brain. A Brain Coupler connects large sections of brain together. This permits operating as one brain. A decoupler permits operating as four large brains.
With a Brain Decoupler, discrete sections of the brain become operational without the support of other brain sections. The Exo can operate by itself, or the large number of solderless breadboards operate without the EXO, for example.
A Brain Coupler for the solderless breadboard array of Propeller chips can transfer following.
Vss
Vdd
P0
P1
Pin 31
Pin 30
Pin Reset
Pins Hybrid
Pins Parallel
Pins Serial
Pins Daisy Chain
Pins Dedicated
Pins One Wire
This also enables removal of the EXO so it can have a robotomy operation to give it robot mobility or capability.
Terms
Brain Couper - connects sections of brain together, typically left, right, top and bottom, to make one large brain
Brain Decoupler enables interface decoupling for individual brain section operations
Robotomy - operation performed on a section of the brain to add, subtract, or modify robot robot function
The Big Brain is collecting a thinking repertoire - a number of Spin programs that can be analyzed for their external thinking BW patterns. External thinking brain wave patterns move unimpeded through free space without invasive connection and can be monitored with brain wave monitor equipment. External monitoring can potentially lead to hookup connections with the human brain. This research and these experiments with the Propeller brain are at the beginning of fundamental technology development in connecting machine brains to human brains.
One area of thinking is in the formation of particular shaped waveforms, in this case the square wave.
Configuration
"Each Propeller microcontroller cog can configure either or both of its counter modules for transmitting square waves in the background. This approach is especially useful since it allows the Spin code to move on to other tasks while the counter module transmits the square wave."
Methods
"The SquareWave object has methods that reduce all the counter module configuration legwork to a few simple method calls. These methods can configure a given cog’s counter module(s) to transmit either single-ended or differential square waves at integer frequencies up to 128 MHz."
Application
"An application that uses more than one cog to send square waves typically only needs a single instance of the SquareWave object, because the cog that calls the SquareWave object’s frequency methods gets its own counter modules configured for the task."
Object
"The SquareWave object really easy to use. Just declare the object, and then pass pin, channel, and frequency values to its Freq method. Here is an example from “Test SquareWave with LEDs.spin” that sends two different square waves on two different I/O pins."...
Download Content FullDuplexSerialPlus.spin
PE Kit Tools - Transmit Square Wave Frequencies.pdf
SquareWave.spin
Test Audio Square Waves.spin
Test High Freq Square Wave.spin
Test IR Object Detection.spin
Test Modulate IR Signals.spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs (Differential).spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs (Two Cogs).spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs.spin
Post 1200 (Propeller Brain Wave Machine - BWM Setup) is now completed and updated. This includes Spin code and the remainder of information necessary for building your own Propeller based Brain Wave Monitor/ Machine. Refer to other posts for more BWM information. The included spin code is useful to verify the posted sound file.
No, this is not a ParaP or Parallel Parallel method. There are two other distinctive ways of working with Parallel as pointed out by Cluso99. He used one prop on the TriBlade to run ZiCog and the other to do a terminal function to VGA and Keyboard. This is two props working in parallel but doing totally different functions.
' Big Brain Propeller Speed Test
' FastTest.spin
' Testing pin 0
' Set clkmode directives in top object
' Run rcfast, rcslow, or pll16x with external crystal
dira[0]~~ ' ~~ is a faster way to say :=1
repeat
!outa[0] ' !outa inverts outa pin in 1 instruction
Natural Computing Progression
for Big Brain expansion representations
Apparently representations of data will endlessly continue to grow as our machines become more powerful. It's not unexpected when comparing to the growth of memory and processing speed. I've seen my first computer grow from 256 bytes memory to the current one with billions of bytes. Processor speed has grown from a few thousand cycles per second to several billion.
Here's some natural progressions that computers follow and are expected to follow in the future. This is useful for calculating Big Brain expansion representations.
The study of using a large tank of fire extinguishing CO2 under pressure reached one particular abrupt conclusion today. If one views a series of youtube videos that show in real time the duration of extinguishers in use, it becomes apparent the usable time is no longer than about 30 second average of usable dispensing. This is ok for a minutes worth of cooling app but is certainly short term. The only fire extinguisher advantage is how it can "coolant wash" large areas in a single application. However, it's certainly a short one time use. The next experiment is to see what quantity of dry ice can accumulate from a single tank and the methods in which it can be harvested.
Comments
Going back to the question of the sound of a moped traveling within ear shot distance of the BWM during operations, yes it would pick up the noise. However, I would hear it too and simply disregard the data. In a future post some actual data will be provided, i.e. actual sounds from the Propeller brain, and indeed these particular brain samples do sound like a moped in some ways!
The sound of a thinking Propeller brain
Note: Disregard the low res movie content. The file is for sound only, although one can correlate the LED on/off frequency image status with the sound and the pin states.
The BWM is an inductive monitoring device with sound output. In this test, a Propeller circuit is set up with four states and the output is fed to the BWM pickup. The setup is designed to detect the status of a pin with the default program and provide audio to discern differences in the waveform.
This is raw unprocessed sound from a thinking Propeller chip, captured with the Brain Wave Machine and a SONY digital camera used as a data recording device.
The file was zipped online at http://zipmyfiles.net/
These are multiple bands being explored on the BWM.
[reserved for MB results]
Exploring the Machine Brain with EEG BWM Brain Wave Monitor
Note two regions of Suspended Animation
While monitoring the Big Brain's Propeller chip with the EEG Brain Wave Monitor connected to a PEK circuit, a period of Suspended Animation was confirmed. This is accomplished by holding RESn low continuously. Power consumed goes from 16mA to 9mA during this function and a relative lack of brain waves occur. This halts program execution and the chip remains powered up and alive.
This can be used as a technique in calibrating the EEG BWM prior to taking readings, halting programs to create dead band space or separators, and making markers on output charts. The dots are artifacts and can be ignored.
With all the interest in collecting joules, it's easy to develop an interest in the harvesting of electrical energy from human and/or machine brains.
According to sources, the electrical energy from a human brain is extremely small though it can be picked up with EEG and in the case of a machine brain, on BWM machines.
But how small or large is this collective potential in the arrays of the Big Brain? What we are currently investigating is the power consumption of individual Propeller chips based on their executing programs and usage of the following elements:
combinations of cogs
code activities
pin engagement
order of engagements
clock
etc.
http://www.web-us.com/brainwavesfunction.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroencephalography
http://brainwindows.wordpress.com/category/voltage/
http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0oGdWLUrC9OdT0A.xGl87UF;_ylc=X1MDUCM5NTgxMDQ2OQRfcgMyBGFvAzAEY3NyY3B2aWQDcGw3RzUwb0dkVEFrV3FhaVRpOW1lQWUxMERKUGRFNHZyTlFBQ0FZNgRmcgNzZnAEZnIyA3NidG4Ebl9ncHMDMARvcmlnaW4Dc3JwBHF1ZXJ5A3ZvbHRhZ2UgZnJvbSBhIGJyYWluPwRzYW8DMQR2dGVzdGlkAw--?p=voltage+from+a+brain%3F&fr=sfp&fr2=&iscqry=
http://jn.physiology.org/content/81/1/39.full
We know that in higher power devices, electrical energy transmits through free space, to light light-bulbs in Physics experiments and to charge batteries with no connecting wires for high tech devices. This transfer of electrical energy through inductive means is possible in minute amounts from sources of radio wave energy.
You can use several free programs with the Apple iPhone to record and analyze machine brain waves with the BWM machine digitally and introduce signal processing.
Voice Memos
Voice Memos will record sound for long periods of time. It has a signal strength VU meter. During playback it indicates a time scale, start and stop and saves the sample. Total time is calculated. A slider allows positioning playback at any point in the time scale with start and stop controls and a time indicator.
Voice Plus
Voice Plus will record and either stretch or compress the signal. It has two slow speeds and two fast speeds for playback. Voice Plus will also run the signal track in reverse and shift the frequency higher or lower.
The Voice Machine
The Voice Machine will record a sample and loop it into playback with a start stop setting and a slider to set audio speed from very slow to very fast and everything in between.
Dictation
Dictation is a basic digital recorder with standard playback controls. It can stop and start, rewind, fast forward, change position with a slider, and has a "Remaining" scale with time indicator. The playback has a useful Pause feature. Special edit controls allow a sub segment to be configured and played.
New Lower Cost Method
Cryogenic Unit piping leading to
inside of EXO for super coolant
distribution - component parts fit
inside the EXO. New lower cost
design uses a Cryo Tank on the
outside
___________________
This past week, a trip to Centralized Electronics & Computer Surplus where about 200 stores are located resulted in a mission to obtain parts and materials for The Big Brain's Cryogenic Unit.
Status
The project was placed on hold due to the high cost of required Cryo parts. This past week was a revival to obtain lower cost materials using a newer design.
Requirements
The Big Brain project is continually working on a low cost version super coolant dispensing agent that can help reduce temperatures in high speed over-clocking projects.
Cryogenics Project Posts
Brain Plumbing & Cryogenics
Brain installation of piping and routing of service tubes
http://forums.parallax.com/showthrea...l=1#post971277
Search for Brain Cryogenic Temperature Sensor
http://forums.parallax.com/showthrea...l=1#post971283
Cryogenic Brain Fuels
Examination of coolants and effects
http://forums.parallax.com/showthrea...l=1#post971454
Brain Cryo Development
Brain Cryo material & removal
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain/page13
Method
The post photo shows the Cryo Dispensing System. The CDS is made up of a tube and pipe distribution. High pressure delivers cold particulars of Dry Ice CO2 to boards or plane arrays of Propeller chips to cool either the EXO from the inside out or generate a top freeze wash for planar boards.
Availability
Although dry ice is available from various stores, it's more convenient to manufacture it in the lab when needed, and in the exact quantity for usage session.
Systems
A second system is in the works that is highly directional and will be used to freeze individual chips. This deep freeze system design is robot automated with a dispensing servo.
http://www.continentalcarbonic.com/dryice/
Definition
Dry ice is pure, solid carbon dioxide (CO2). As a gas, CO2 exists naturally in our environment. It's called "dry ice" because it does not melt. Dry ice goes directly from a solid to a gas in a process called sublimation.
Dry Ice Characteristics
Dry ice keeps items colder for much longer than traditional “wet ice” because dry ice is extremely cold, -109 degrees F (-78.5° C). Dry ice sublimates into carbon dioxide gas instead of melting, leaving no liquid mess to clean up which is why dry ice blasting is a popular and environmentally friendly way to clean.
Making Dry Ice
Making dry ice requires a source of CO2 [carbon dioxide] that comes from industrial processes such as those in ethanol plants. Carbon dioxide is a gas. It can be put under pressure and converted to liquid carbon dioxide [LCO2] that must be kept under pressure in a tank to remain liquid. As liquid CO2 is exposed to normal air temperatures, some of it immediately turns back to a colorless gas [CO2], and some of it freezes into "snow" which can be pressed into dry ice pellets or blocks using hydraulic pressure and a dry ice pelletizer or dry ice block press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_ice
Dry ice, sometimes referred to as "Cardice" or as "card ice", is the solid form of carbon dioxide. It is used primarily as a cooling agent. Its advantages include lower temperature than that of water ice and not leaving any residue (other than incidental frost from moisture in the atmosphere).
Warning!
The extreme cold makes the solid dangerous to handle without protection due to burns caused by freezing (frostbite). While generally nontoxic, the outgassing from it can cause suffocation due to displacement of oxygen in confined locations.
Advantages
...with the P8X32A-D40 and the dry ice method there is no condensation to short out close or wide-spaced pins. That's because of pure sublimation. No water involved. Dry Ice is non toxic, non corrosive, non conductive and does not damage any metal surfaces. It goes directly from a solid to a gas with no liquid-state melting in between. It also does not require on board or external power consumption like the Peltier requires.
http://www.cwrmglobal.co.za/dry-ice.htm
As it's electrically nonconductive, it's used for cleaning by pellet blasting surfaces, and for surface to chip deposition in just the right amount on boards in diagnostic troubleshooting when the board is powered up.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_dry_ice...ical_conductor
Today marks the one year anniversary of the Big Brain project, as documented by the first post made by (Humanoido) on August 5th, 2010.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain
Congratulations!
We made you a sweater.
Congratulations Humanoido, keep on moving forward, Hoa Wa'a,(paddle harder), and all that..
-Tommy
p.s.: Just how hot is the "Big Brain" going to get? With all that dry ice talk, I was curious about what kind of tempatures are expected?
Jon, how is your project coming along? Any updates that I missed?
Looks to me like he's headed for a brain freeze. Humanoido, you know you can get one of those just by sucking down a Slurpee.
But seriously, dude, dry ice is so cold it will cause water vapor in the air to condense upon it, and that bit of water can mix with the CO2, which then produces a mild acid. So if you don't take precautions to keep your humidity low, you might end up with something that eats your brain while it cools it. Just a thought my brain had.
ElectricAye:
Nice sweater!
I already considered Slurpees - they only get down to a sweet 32 deg. F.
Water droplets cannot condense on Propeller chips because liquid water cannot exist on a chip cooled continuously at -109 degrees F (covered with a pure insulating layer of solid dry ice).
We're holding a One Year Anniversary Party for the Big Brain over the weekend. Everyone's invited!
I'm checking on appointments at the University of Technology to possibly see the new humanoids and also checking the Exposition Lecture agenda through the university where they host Brain research.
Some interesting facts, the Big Brain is the largest Parallax machine ever built in my smallest lab. There's over 300 smaller machines built from the beginning of 2002 to 2011, a ten year period, so I could learn about putting together multiple processors.
The first multi-brain was made from several Parallax Stamps placed into a humanoid robot built from Parallax Toddler robot parts.
The Big Brain's official first post was on August 5th, 2010.
The Big Brain uses Propeller chips. Out of respect to its heritage and to remain compatible with ten years of development, a BASIC stamp is designed into its Brain Stem.
In building humanoid robots, they were consistently lacking in two things - a long lasting battery and a powerful brain. I wasn't interested in working with battery chemicals so I chose to develop a brain.
The brain began by many suggestions from Parallax Forum members.
The Brain has many supporting projects posted in the Brain thread. The most recent is a Brain Wave Monitor that can see and hear the thinking of Propeller chips.
The Brain led to offspring, several smaller brains, even including a controversial two prop brain in a jar that won Parallax's Project of the week.
The one year mark is time to reflect on where the Brain was, is now, and where it's going. It's not over yet. The journey has only just begun.
It's more about the journey than the destination - the path we choose, the things we learn and develop along the way and the new friends we make.
Stay tuned. I will continue trying new and unusual things, pacing the Big Brain, making some small discoveries, and growing the artistic, creative edge. There are future treats in store for those following along.
I want your presence, comments and input here. Be respectful to each other. We are all different. We look different, think different, have different projects, hold different knowledge, education and capabilities. We are at different levels, ages and places. It's important to respect these differences. Working together, embracing the differences, I believe we can improve a small part of the world, and make it a better place for everyone.
Humanoido
Tommy:
Thanks. We'll have a great anniversary celebration this weekend. You're invited!
Your humor for Brain in a Jar is appreciated. I didn't see any jars big enough to hold the Big Brain. Probably a several hundred gallon aquarium could contain it and provide a viewing window (without the fish).
How hot is the Brain? It won't become hot because it has dry ice to keep it cool.
We have found ways to continually lower the power consumption with an array of props including a standby mode that can last a long time and hold programs.
Minimal circuits are less power consumers.
Special code has low power saving statements, sequences and modes.
Props can be operated at less voltage.
Plus now we have circuits that are Joule savers.
It's now possible to build a circuit which detects loss of power and then diverts immediately to a joule saving device with a battery.
Another venue is the construction of an intelligent joule device that's level detectable and switchable to engage a battery array for greatest longevity.
Of course a lot of the power requirements may abruptly change when hypering an array of Propeller chips.
Related Links
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?125614-Propeller-supercomputer-hardware-questions/page17
I have two 80 gallon tanks, one long and one tall, the tall one is 32"depth X 36"long X 15"wide,
Lots of water, but not as much real estate compared to the long tank, 20"depth X 72"long X 18"wide,
540"sq.in VS 1296"sq.in. of bottom space... they both can handle boiling water,
but not so sure about freezing them solid with dry ice though, never had to try, ich and every other
fish disaster, boils away nicely...
oop's, I drifted, sorry about that..
Anyways, what should I bring to the cerebellation?
-Tommy
p.s.: glad you thought the knitted sweater brain in a jar would be funny, of course, it didn't matter who
you are, that was funny stuff right there...
Those tanks must be spectacular when filled with colorful tropical fish. To keep a cryogenically super cooled brain inside a glass tank would require some insulation surrounding the brain and its dispensing coolant so as not to break the glass. An clear acrylic or other plastic outer layer surrounding the EXOskeleton at a distance of about 8-inches to a foot would protect the glass. Frost and condensation could occur, unless a bottom mounted fan could circulate the air.
Bring your cerebrum.
One year Propeller Big Brain Anniversary celebration
Our one year Big Brain Anniversary celebration, cleverly coined Cerebellation by Tommy (Ttailspin), is now under way. We opened with a picnic lunch that led to sharing and exchanging brain stories and distributed numerous free electronic books with circuits and data perfect for adding new stuff to BASIC Stamps, Propeller chips, and multiple chip brains.
Somehow conversations led to the Joule Thief and reducing power consumption in multi-chip big brains! Now we're planning the movie schedule inside air conditioning to beat the outdoor heat and the Goby desert storm that moved in. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gobi_Desert
The Brain - a 1988 Canadian science fiction horror film depicting a giant brain that eats people http://search.yahoo.com/r/_ylt=A0oGdS6O2jxOQDkApf5XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzNmplMnNmBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMTIEY29sbwNzazEEdnRpZANERlI1Xzcy/SIG=126iqlo66/EXP=1312632558/**http%3a//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brain_(1988_film)
The Machine that Changed the World - Giant Brains
http://www.viddler.com/explore/waxpancake/videos/5/
The Brain from Planet Arous (1957) - a giant brain that attacks people
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050210/
Megamind's Giant Brain
http://vox.fastcompany.com/1698647/megamind-s-giant-brain-born-in-silicon-valley
Following the movies, we'll have the grand tour of the Big Brain Little Lab Facilities, and a brief showing of the Big Brain and it's many small brain offspring in action. It will be followed by a brain question and answer session.
After, the mini-paper session will begin, with an opportunity for our attendees to report on their projects, findings, research, discoveries, ideas and goals.
We're looking for someone here that can serve as compounder to create a Proceedings publication of the 1st Big Brain Anniversary Meeting. This would be a great way for people that live far away or where it's not practical to attend, can read about the proceedings.
If you’d like to be a part of this event, even though attending is not possible, you may submit a one or two page report about your project, or brief summary (or forum link) and we’ll see about including it remotely in the proceedings. Send it to the email listed below or post the summarizing information and/or link at the the Big Brain thread.
penguin[dot]robot[at]yahoo[dot]com
Updated to post 1219
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=977025&viewfull=1#post977025
Includes term definitions from pages 1 through 9 inclusive
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=999426&viewfull=1#post999426
As a Cryogenic Coolant
With Peltier Junction modules on sale for $9 each and configured to cool just one chip, and considering two Brain Partitions are composed of 100 propeller chips, the cost of $900 would be too expensive for the project. (but good for long term use)
For a $20 to $30 budget, a dry ice machine or coolant propellent machine can be fabricated to make dry ice for numerous uses and multiple applications across all 100 Propeller chips. (good for testing and experiments)
Brain Coupler Decouplers are now necessary for the Big Brain, to ensure operations of individual sections. Sections include Left Brain, Right Brain, Top Brain and Bottom Brain. A Brain Coupler connects large sections of brain together. This permits operating as one brain. A decoupler permits operating as four large brains.
With a Brain Decoupler, discrete sections of the brain become operational without the support of other brain sections. The Exo can operate by itself, or the large number of solderless breadboards operate without the EXO, for example.
A Brain Coupler for the solderless breadboard array of Propeller chips can transfer following.
This also enables removal of the EXO so it can have a robotomy operation to give it robot mobility or capability.
Terms
Brain Couper - connects sections of brain together, typically left, right, top and bottom, to make one large brain
Brain Decoupler enables interface decoupling for individual brain section operations
Robotomy - operation performed on a section of the brain to add, subtract, or modify robot robot function
Transmit square wave frequencies
The Big Brain is collecting a thinking repertoire - a number of Spin programs that can be analyzed for their external thinking BW patterns. External thinking brain wave patterns move unimpeded through free space without invasive connection and can be monitored with brain wave monitor equipment. External monitoring can potentially lead to hookup connections with the human brain. This research and these experiments with the Propeller brain are at the beginning of fundamental technology development in connecting machine brains to human brains.
One area of thinking is in the formation of particular shaped waveforms, in this case the square wave.
Download Spin Code
http://forums.parallax.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=60200
Discussion Source
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=799863
Configuration
"Each Propeller microcontroller cog can configure either or both of its counter modules for transmitting square waves in the background. This approach is especially useful since it allows the Spin code to move on to other tasks while the counter module transmits the square wave."
Methods
"The SquareWave object has methods that reduce all the counter module configuration legwork to a few simple method calls. These methods can configure a given cog’s counter module(s) to transmit either single-ended or differential square waves at integer frequencies up to 128 MHz."
Application
"An application that uses more than one cog to send square waves typically only needs a single instance of the SquareWave object, because the cog that calls the SquareWave object’s frequency methods gets its own counter modules configured for the task."
Object
"The SquareWave object really easy to use. Just declare the object, and then pass pin, channel, and frequency values to its Freq method. Here is an example from “Test SquareWave with LEDs.spin” that sends two different square waves on two different I/O pins."...
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?112118-PE-Kit-Tools-Transmit-Square-Wave-Frequencies&p=799863
Download Content
FullDuplexSerialPlus.spin
PE Kit Tools - Transmit Square Wave Frequencies.pdf
SquareWave.spin
Test Audio Square Waves.spin
Test High Freq Square Wave.spin
Test IR Object Detection.spin
Test Modulate IR Signals.spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs (Differential).spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs (Two Cogs).spin
Test SquareWave with LEDs.spin
Post 1200 (Propeller Brain Wave Machine - BWM Setup) is now completed and updated. This includes Spin code and the remainder of information necessary for building your own Propeller based Brain Wave Monitor/ Machine. Refer to other posts for more BWM information. The included spin code is useful to verify the posted sound file.
This is a collection of programs for experimenting
with the changing thought patterns from the Big Brain.
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1020715&viewfull=1#post1020715
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1023203&viewfull=1#post1023203
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1023203&viewfull=1#post1023203
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1023203&viewfull=1#post1023203
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1023215&viewfull=1#post1023215
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1025088&viewfull=1#post1025088
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1025134&viewfull=1#post1025134
No, this is not a ParaP or Parallel Parallel method. There are two other distinctive ways of working with Parallel as pointed out by Cluso99. He used one prop on the TriBlade to run ZiCog and the other to do a terminal function to VGA and Keyboard. This is two props working in parallel but doing totally different functions.
Is this the most simple Spin code to check speed?
for Big Brain expansion representations
Apparently representations of data will endlessly continue to grow as our machines become more powerful. It's not unexpected when comparing to the growth of memory and processing speed. I've seen my first computer grow from 256 bytes memory to the current one with billions of bytes. Processor speed has grown from a few thousand cycles per second to several billion.
Here's some natural progressions that computers follow and are expected to follow in the future. This is useful for calculating Big Brain expansion representations.
More information at ComputerHope
http://www.computerhope.com/
Bit
A Bit is a value of either a 0 or 1.
Nibble
A Nibble is 4 bits.
Byte
A Byte is 8 bits.
Kilobyte (KB)
A Kilobyte is 1,024 bytes.
Megabyte (MB)
A Megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes or 1,024 Kilobytes
873 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
Gigabyte (GB)
A Gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 (230) bytes. 1,024 Megabytes, or 1,048,576 Kilobytes.
894,784 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4,473 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
341 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
256 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1 650MB CD
Terabyte (TB)
A Terabyte is 1,099,511,627,776 (240) bytes, 1,024 Gigabytes, or 1,048,576 Megabytes.
916,259,689 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4,581,298 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
349,525 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
262,144 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1,613 650MB CD's
233 4.38GB DVD's
40 25GB Blu-ray discs
Petabyte (PB)
A Petabyte is 1,125,899,906,842,624 (250) bytes, 1,024 Terabytes, or 1,048,576 Gigabytes.
938,249,922,368 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4,691,249,611 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
357,913,941 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
268,435,456 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1,651,910 650MB CD's
239,400 4.38GB DVD's
41,943 25GB Blu-ray discs
Exabyte (EB)
A Exabyte is 1,152,921,504,606,846,976 (260) bytes, 1,024 Petabytes, or 1,048,576 Terabytes.
960,767,920,505,705 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4,803,839,602,528 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
366,503,875,925 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
274,877,906,944 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1,691,556,350 650MB CD's
245,146,535 4.38GB DVD's
42,949,672 25GB Blu-ray discs
Zettabyte (ZB)
A Zettabyte is 1,180,591,620,717,411,303,424 (270) bytes, 1,024 Exabytes, or 1,048,576 Petabytes.
983,826,350,597,842,752 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
4,919,131,752,989,213 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
375,299,968,947,541 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
281,474,976,710,656 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1,732,153,702,834 650MB CD's
251,030,052,003 4.38GB DVD's
43,980,465,111 25GB Blu-ray discs
Yottabyte (YB)
A Yottabyte is 1,208,925,819,614,629,174,706,176 (280) bytes, 1,024 Zettabytes, or 1,048,576 Exabytes.
1,007,438,183,012,190,978,921 pages of plaintext (1,200 characters)
5,037,190,915,060,954,894 books (200 pages or 240,000 characters)
384,307,168,202,282,325 digital pictures (with 3MB average file size)
288,230,376,151,711,744 MP3 audio files (with 4MB average file size)
1,773,725,391,702,841 650MB CD's
257,054,773,251,740 4.38GB DVD's
45,035,996,273,704 25GB Blu-ray discs
Cryogenic Systems
Note the many different types of fire extinguishers. For use as brain coolant, interest is in the CO2 tank.
http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A2KJkIUsVEFO1AoA6LyjzbkF/SIG=12sodkre1/EXP=1312933036/**http%3a//www.seton.co.uk/fire-extinguisher-pocket-guides-nonsignmg325.html
___________________
The study of using a large tank of fire extinguishing CO2 under pressure reached one particular abrupt conclusion today. If one views a series of youtube videos that show in real time the duration of extinguishers in use, it becomes apparent the usable time is no longer than about 30 second average of usable dispensing. This is ok for a minutes worth of cooling app but is certainly short term. The only fire extinguisher advantage is how it can "coolant wash" large areas in a single application. However, it's certainly a short one time use. The next experiment is to see what quantity of dry ice can accumulate from a single tank and the methods in which it can be harvested.