playerpiano56 intro and query

[playerpiano56]

I do hands on math and science education on a shoestring budget in Minneapolis with Leonardo's Basement leonardosbasement.org .

I have some previous work in the world of optical computing which I want to make more tangible to to more students by having a simulator. Redstone circuits look to be a great way to accomplish this:
EE TImes-Neon Lamps and Photoconductors Illuminate Logic
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279395

The ultimate goal as I currently see it is to rewrite "An Introduction to Elementary Computer and Compiler Design" by Dennis R. Steele with Redstone circuit labs that emulate a an optical drum based state controller and then somehow or other (I have access to a milling machine and lathe . . . . finally) build and actual optical drum based state machine. In an ideal implementation the drum would spin fast enough to also act as a display:
Temporal Scroller:
http://youtu.be/9X_q6Db53jQ
EE Times-It's a vision thing – creating an optical computer memory
http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279632

Interested in advice, questions and collaborations

Thanks much!

Best,
Ed

[newomaster]

Wow awesome

Minneapolis! Another Minnesotan <3