projects:cpu_display
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| {{:projects:lyra_cpu.jpg?700|}} | {{:projects:lyra_cpu.jpg?700|}} | ||
| - | ==== What did you do? ==== | + | ==== What I Did ==== |
| I built a display/diorama of an entire computer Central Processing Unit (CPU) out of nested cardboard boxes. | I built a display/diorama of an entire computer Central Processing Unit (CPU) out of nested cardboard boxes. | ||
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| Inside of each outer level box are more boxes representing what happens inside of that particular unit. For example, inside of the ALU there is a box for the adder/subtractor, which in turn contains a box with a gate level schematic of a 1-bit full adder inside. This allows the person exploring the diorama to extrapolate how the components fit together all the way from the individual gates to the top-level information stages. | Inside of each outer level box are more boxes representing what happens inside of that particular unit. For example, inside of the ALU there is a box for the adder/subtractor, which in turn contains a box with a gate level schematic of a 1-bit full adder inside. This allows the person exploring the diorama to extrapolate how the components fit together all the way from the individual gates to the top-level information stages. | ||
| - | ==== Why did you do it? ==== | + | ==== Why I Did It ==== |
| There were several reasons I chose to make a physical display of a CPU for my final project. First of all, I think that Computer Architecture is a very exciting field, and I wanted to make it more approachable for all audiences. When I set out to construct this display I had my 12-year-old sister in mind as my potential audience, and while I may have not achieved quite that level of clarity, I believe that I've made something that other Oliners can interact with and get excited about. | There were several reasons I chose to make a physical display of a CPU for my final project. First of all, I think that Computer Architecture is a very exciting field, and I wanted to make it more approachable for all audiences. When I set out to construct this display I had my 12-year-old sister in mind as my potential audience, and while I may have not achieved quite that level of clarity, I believe that I've made something that other Oliners can interact with and get excited about. | ||
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| This project also wraps up the big picture of the entire course very well, because I've explored all of the levels of abstraction that we discussed in class throughout the semester. We started out initially talking about logic gates and binary math, and then slowly progressed up to the CPU itself, and in this project I present a little bit of everything. Through pulling it all together in this way, I certainly reinforced most of the concepts that I was having trouble with in the class and found gaps in my knowledge that I wasn't even aware I had. | This project also wraps up the big picture of the entire course very well, because I've explored all of the levels of abstraction that we discussed in class throughout the semester. We started out initially talking about logic gates and binary math, and then slowly progressed up to the CPU itself, and in this project I present a little bit of everything. Through pulling it all together in this way, I certainly reinforced most of the concepts that I was having trouble with in the class and found gaps in my knowledge that I wasn't even aware I had. | ||
| - | ==== How did you do it? ==== | + | ==== How I Did It ==== |
| I started out by sketching out the CPU at its highest level of abstraction and deciding how many very large boxes I needed to acquire. I then determined what exactly went into each upper-level box and what subset of those things I wanted to also give boxes to. | I started out by sketching out the CPU at its highest level of abstraction and deciding how many very large boxes I needed to acquire. I then determined what exactly went into each upper-level box and what subset of those things I wanted to also give boxes to. | ||
| - | {{:projects:lyra_schematic1.jpg?700 |}} | + | {{ :projects:lyra_schematic1.jpg?700 |}} |
| - | {{:projects:lyra_schematic2.jpg?700 |}} | + | {{ :projects:lyra_schematic2.jpg?700 |}} |
| Then I got a ton of boxes and some art supplies. | Then I got a ton of boxes and some art supplies. | ||
| - | {{:projects:lyra_supplies.jpg?700 |}} | + | {{ :projects:lyra_supplies.jpg?700 |}} |
| In the end I decided on the following boxes: | In the end I decided on the following boxes: | ||
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| ====Work Plan==== | ====Work Plan==== | ||
| - | **Goal** | + | **Goal**\\ |
| To create a physical display that explains what a CPU does and how it works. There will be several nested black boxes (IRL) and each one will be labeled with a description explaining what goes on inside of that black box. The largest box will be the CPU as a whole and the smallest black boxes will be the simple gates. The audience for these descriptions will be a parent or sibling that doesn’t know anything about computer architecture. | To create a physical display that explains what a CPU does and how it works. There will be several nested black boxes (IRL) and each one will be labeled with a description explaining what goes on inside of that black box. The largest box will be the CPU as a whole and the smallest black boxes will be the simple gates. The audience for these descriptions will be a parent or sibling that doesn’t know anything about computer architecture. | ||
| I would also like to show some simple operations taking place in the CPU, preferably user-controlled. I could have a knob or series of buttons that activated a different set of lights through the display depending on the operation, or it could be as simple as using different colors of yarn for different operations with careful labeling. | I would also like to show some simple operations taking place in the CPU, preferably user-controlled. I could have a knob or series of buttons that activated a different set of lights through the display depending on the operation, or it could be as simple as using different colors of yarn for different operations with careful labeling. | ||
| - | **Final demo** | + | **Final demo**\\ |
| The above display with a short presentation that I could give at expo explaining what a CPU is and why Computer Architecture is so cool. | The above display with a short presentation that I could give at expo explaining what a CPU is and why Computer Architecture is so cool. | ||
| - | **Rough Schedule** | + | **Rough Schedule**\\ |
| Wednesday Dec 4th - Have “schematic” of entire system, begin procuring boxes (2 hours)\\ | Wednesday Dec 4th - Have “schematic” of entire system, begin procuring boxes (2 hours)\\ | ||
| Saturday Dec 7th - Decide which operations will be shown and how (1 hour)\\ | Saturday Dec 7th - Decide which operations will be shown and how (1 hour)\\ | ||
projects/cpu_display.1387514032.txt.gz · Last modified: 2013/12/19 23:33 by lsilverwolf
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