How does it work and why is it necessary?

The computer’s test sample, which has no electronic components, consists of 64 interconnected polymer cubes measuring 1 cubic centimeter. They can be rearranged to store, retrieve and delete data. It’s similar to kirigami, where paper is cut and folded into intricate designs. the computer can be physically manipulated by giving it different configurations and states.

Each die represents one bit of binary data that can be shifted up or down to produce a 1 or 0, respectively. Rearranging the dice changes the configuration of the computer, allowing information to be stored or represented in physical form.

For example, a certain configuration of functional blocks can serve as a 3D password. We are also interested in investigating the potential utility of these metastructures to create haptic systems that display information in a three-dimensional context rather than as pixels on a screen.
– says study author Yanbin Li, a graduate student in the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Mechanical computers emerged centuries ago, perhaps as early as the 2nd century BC, long before the invention of algorithms and programming languages ​​as we know them today. However, unlike the newer kirigami-inspired concept, humans operated these machines using gears or levers, making them extremely cumbersome.

On a new computer changing the position of a cube changes the position of all connected cubeschanging the computer configuration according to different computing situations.

How a mechanical computer works: video

A simple metastructure consisting of 9 functional blocks using a binary structure where the cubes are either up or down has over 362,000 possible configurations.
says Lee.

Data editing is controlled by pulling on the edges of the metastructure, which stretches the elastic band and pushes the cube up or down. When the band is released, it locks the cubes in place, effectively storing data. The cubes can also be pushed up or down remotely by attaching a magnetic plate and applying a magnetic field.

“Each functional block, comprised of 64 cubes, can be configured in a wide variety of architectures, and the cubes can be stacked in stacks five cubes high. This enables the development of computations that go far beyond binary code,” adds study co-author Jie Yin, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Later researchers hope Team up with programmers to develop code for the computer. “Our proof-of-concept work demonstrates the potential range of these architectures, but we have not yet developed code that uses these architectures,” Lee said.