What a beautiful thing it is to see this digital computer in action. [Chris Fenton] did an amazing job of designing and printing this mechanical digital computer. If you’re interested in one to call your own check out the source files he published this week.
[Chris’] design inspiration came from some research into Victorian Era mechanical looms. He adjusted the concept to build a punch card reader, starting with a capacity of three holes and moving to this design which can read ten holes. It provides just enough bits to address all three of the counters pictured above. Program the computer by inserting a punch card that is the size of a business card and crank away. The video below shows the process from afar… hopefully he’ll post a follow-up video with closer views of each piece in action.
This isn’t his first basic computing machine. Check out the electromechanical version from last year.