Propeller Brain in a Jar
Propeller Brain in a Jar
Build A Pint Size Machine Brain
spinoff from here
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain
Introduction
Traditionally there are human and animal brain specimens kept in jars of chemical preserving solution. Even Albert Einstein's brain was saved and jar preserved. It's common to see graphic images and photos of brains in jars all across the net. Should machine brains be left out of the equation? Absolutely not! I therefore set about finding a containment vessel of just the right size, a 340 gram Skippy Peanut Butter jar.
Propeller Brain in a Jar - After eating numerous peanut butter sandwiches,
I built this two-chip brain with sixteen cores that fits inside the empty peanut
butter jar
_____________________
Construction
The Brain in a Jar is built on a single solderless breadboard with wire jumpers and two power rails. It has two Parallax Propeller chips mounted piggyback. Pins, depending on the required circuit and software are either bent up or kept in contact with the other prop to create various interface functions. A nine volt battery fits behind the breadboard and software can signal exampling neurons whose firing are visible through the clear jar. The Jar Brain has sixteen cores, all of which can run in parallel, which makes it powerful given its small "pint size."
Wiring
For additional wiring, program loading and EEPROM attachment, refer to the schematic diagram in the free Parallax PEK manual. You can also attach a Parallax Prop Plug connector by following the diagram made by Jazzed for his Propalyzer.
Operating the Brain
Unscrew the jar lid to hookup the USB cable to load in the program. Lerner uses PST and Life uses a TV externally. However the Nanite and code to activate the LED can run from stored programs in the EEPROM.
Brains in jars are traditionally common on the internet as seen in this photo
montage created with images of brains in jars. Collagelt for the Mac was used
to create the collage.
____________________
Jar Brain Specifications
Architecture = 32-Bit Multi-Core Multi-Chip
Processors - Parallax Propeller Chips
Number of Chips - 2
Number of cores - 16
Number of ports - 64
Theoretical Speed - 320 MIPS
Counters - 32
Video Registers - 32
Shared HUB RAM - 64K
Shared ROM - 64K
Power - 9V Battery
Other circuits
Pin to Pin
LED
3.3v Power Regulator
Decoupling Capacitors
EEPROM - 32K
Caveats
The caveat is that joined pins should never achieve opposite states.
Suggested Applications
Learning with Dave Hein's Lerner
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=990917&viewfull=1#post990917
Life with Bean's Version of John Conway's Method
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=981177&viewfull=1#post981177
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=981338&viewfull=1#post981338
Experimenting with Nanites (the Brain's version of Nanotechnology)
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1013008&viewfull=1#post1013008
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1013063&viewfull=1#post1013063
Build A Pint Size Machine Brain
spinoff from here
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain
Introduction
Traditionally there are human and animal brain specimens kept in jars of chemical preserving solution. Even Albert Einstein's brain was saved and jar preserved. It's common to see graphic images and photos of brains in jars all across the net. Should machine brains be left out of the equation? Absolutely not! I therefore set about finding a containment vessel of just the right size, a 340 gram Skippy Peanut Butter jar.
Propeller Brain in a Jar - After eating numerous peanut butter sandwiches,
I built this two-chip brain with sixteen cores that fits inside the empty peanut
butter jar
_____________________
Construction
The Brain in a Jar is built on a single solderless breadboard with wire jumpers and two power rails. It has two Parallax Propeller chips mounted piggyback. Pins, depending on the required circuit and software are either bent up or kept in contact with the other prop to create various interface functions. A nine volt battery fits behind the breadboard and software can signal exampling neurons whose firing are visible through the clear jar. The Jar Brain has sixteen cores, all of which can run in parallel, which makes it powerful given its small "pint size."
Wiring
For additional wiring, program loading and EEPROM attachment, refer to the schematic diagram in the free Parallax PEK manual. You can also attach a Parallax Prop Plug connector by following the diagram made by Jazzed for his Propalyzer.
Operating the Brain
Unscrew the jar lid to hookup the USB cable to load in the program. Lerner uses PST and Life uses a TV externally. However the Nanite and code to activate the LED can run from stored programs in the EEPROM.
Brains in jars are traditionally common on the internet as seen in this photo
montage created with images of brains in jars. Collagelt for the Mac was used
to create the collage.
____________________
Jar Brain Specifications
Architecture = 32-Bit Multi-Core Multi-Chip
Processors - Parallax Propeller Chips
Number of Chips - 2
Number of cores - 16
Number of ports - 64
Theoretical Speed - 320 MIPS
Counters - 32
Video Registers - 32
Shared HUB RAM - 64K
Shared ROM - 64K
Power - 9V Battery
Other circuits
Pin to Pin
LED
3.3v Power Regulator
Decoupling Capacitors
EEPROM - 32K
Caveats
The caveat is that joined pins should never achieve opposite states.
Suggested Applications
Learning with Dave Hein's Lerner
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=990917&viewfull=1#post990917
Life with Bean's Version of John Conway's Method
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=981177&viewfull=1#post981177
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=981338&viewfull=1#post981338
Experimenting with Nanites (the Brain's version of Nanotechnology)
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1013008&viewfull=1#post1013008
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?124495-Fill-the-Big-Brain&p=1013063&viewfull=1#post1013063
Comments
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?114944-Ultra-Minimum-Propeller-Fact-or-Fiction&p=828613&viewfull=1#post828613
http://www.brouhaha.com/~sdenson/Propalyzer/
http://www.kremaproducts.com/
Ok, I am not recommending or endorsing the consumption of any brand of peanut butter and I myself have given it up. The acquisition of peanut butter jars shall be from this day forward at the recycling containment center.
Actually, this was the smallest peanut butter jar used. There's the next larger size that could hold more brains - probably a doubling of solderless breadboard size and a good increase in power ability with at least 32 cogs. The larger jars made by Jif (since we are not biased towards Skippy) is at 18 ounce size (1 pound 2 ounces) or 510 grams.
I'm not sure, but there's been a rumor floating around, something about peanut butter causing people to wire things together in endlessly weird and wonderful ways.
PLEASE pass another round of peanut butter sandwiches over here! LOL!!! I wonder if they make a bigger peanut butter jar for a bigger project? I think I remember seeing a gallon of peanut butter at CostCo in Taiwan. The nice thing about peanut butter jars is the wide lid is the same diameter of the jar permitting easy access for brain insertion.
Plus intro to color coding
This is the next jar size. Note the color caps determined by the type and texture of the peanut butter. Brown is for peanut butter with chocolate and dark blue is extra crunchy peanut butter. Anyone know the color for plain?
Although the caps look like the same size, they are not switchable.
I don't quite understand the fascination with putting electronic brains in a jar, but shouldn't they be filled with formaldehyde also?
I see you found a copy of The Singularity in Near.
Instead of Dave's formaldehyde you could use mineral oil.
Duane
Dave, good observation, brain jars should be filled with formaldehyde preservative but that's for biological brains only! For electric brains we use air as a common preserving dielectric.
Putting an electronic brain in a jar was spun from the lore of science fiction and preserved biological brains in real life. Just google brain in a jar to see the prolificacy and popularity. There's some kind of emotive condition that it elicits.
http://www.google.com/search?q=brain+in+a+jar&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=ivns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=_34bTrGtIo_ImAXfpa3BBw&ved=0CEoQsAQ&biw=1340&bih=634
http://my.opera.com/edwardpiercy/archive/monthly/?month=200710&startidx=16
Duane, this is perfect!
Mineral oil http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, Mechanical, electrical and industrial. Mineral oil is used in a variety of industrial/mechanical capacities as a non-conductive coolant or thermal fluid in electric components as it does not conduct electricity, while simultaneously functioning to displace air and water. Some examples are in transformers where it is known as transformer oil, and in high voltage switchgear where mineral oil is used as an insulator and as a coolant to disperse switching arcs.[9] The dielectric constant of mineral oil ranges from 2.3 at 50 °C to 2.3 at 200 °C.[10]
Electric space heaters sometimes use mineral oil as a heat transfer oil. Because it is noncompressible, mineral oil is used as a hydraulic fluid in hydraulic machinery and vehicles. It is also used as a lubricant and a cutting fluid. Light mineral oil is also used in textile industries and used as a jute batching oil. An often cited limitation of mineral oil is that it is poorly biodegradable; in some applications, vegetable oils such as cottonseed oil or rapeseed oil may be used instead.[11]
A new bookstore opened up on the other side of the city and I was surprised to find many really great science and technology books in English including some by Newton, Hawking and Einstein. Ray Kurzweil's The Singularity is Near is highly recommended! The computer books however were all too simple.
The jar color coding could lead to a nice Propeller Brain in a Jar series, each with some specific feature. The jar cap color is a standard from company to company. Taking a look at the Skippy Peanut Butter jar series, yellow is for crispy rice, deep blue is for extra crunchy peanuts, brown is for added chocolate, and aqua-marine is for smooth peanut butter. I've collected all four in the series for the next generation of Propeller in a Jar brains, and even had some requests jar'd brains. For those that want to stop by, I'm offering a peanut butter sandwich party over the next five weekends.
This is a complete collection of Skippy peanut butter jars in Chinese versions.
Caps are brown, dark blue, yellow and aqua marine. In the Extended Jar Brain
Series, lid color will denote the brain type.
_______________________
Although stacked Propeller chips are ideal for small brain jars, the direct connection of pins is an undesired situation (if two pins develop opposite states). In the new upgraded version, each Propeller chip has its own socket, and protective resistor for pin to pin protective wiring.
Similar to stacking, two props have top to top mounting and connection. These are taped together for simplicity and removal should that become necessary for upgrading and recycling. Wiring is simply connected from socket pin to socket pin using wire wrap or by direct soldering of wire and component leads.
Using the new socket approach, it's possible to have from one to four Propellers inside each jar with leftover space. In this type of config, a solderless breadboard is not included. However, future brain models may include the small solderless breadboard for making experimental connections and to make easier external connections.