I amuse myself by constructing a computer almost entirely out of relays.
Relays were used to construct computers well before vacuum tubes, transistors or integrated circuits were feasible for the task. The main inspiration is the machines by Konrad Zuse of the late 30s and early 40s.
Quick feature list:
- 8-bit data bus and 16-bit address bus
- 3 x 8-bit accumulator registers, 2 x 12-bit registers (for index, addresses and jumps)
- 64k solid state memory, holding heap, stack and program
- 12-bit program counter and 12-bit stack pointer
- ALU capable of not, and, or, xor, add, increment, decrement, shift, and indirectly, subtraction
- Writable microprogram stored in solid-state device for sequencing
- Assembler and Microassembler running in DOS and communicating with Zusie over parallel port.
Who is Zusie?
An introduction, with specifications and info about the architecture
News and Build Log
With lots of pictures and videos of the machine!
The Story behind Zusie
Why build such a device?
Online Simulator
Assemble and run your own Zusie programs online on this visual simulator!
Downloads
Software, source code etc
Links
Info about relay computers and other people's projects. Also some book references.
I would love to read any comments, suggestions or questions that you have about my project!
Please use this form to contact me.
