Improved Zuse inspired mechanical decoder

thingiverse

This is an even more intricate version of device https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3382580, utilizing the same technology as other Zuse-inspired components. A 3 to 8 decoder could be created with a collection of AND and/or OR gates, but this would require multiple stages and clock cycles. This design reduces it to one, albeit at the expense of having to move a chain of plates which, due to tolerances, becomes less reliable. The layout is unlikely to have been used in the actual Z1 calculator, but it effectively demonstrates how a decoder can operate. In the realized decoder, each function has its own color; gray for the fixed structure, yellow for the inputs, black for the clock plate, green for the intermediate plates, blue for the output plates and red for the switching pins. The clips on the pins serve to keep the plates in place during movement. * The Computing Machines of Konrad Zuse/Ed.: Raul Rojas. With contributions by F.L. Bauer, H.Dorsch, H. Petzold, R. Rojas, G.-A. Thurm and G. Widiger as well as two patents from Konrad Zuse ISBN-13: 978-3-642-71945-5 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 1998 * https://sdtb.de/museum-of-technology/exhibitions/1256/ * The Design Principles of Konrad Zuse's Mechanical Computers (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1603.02396) * The Z1: Architecture and Algorithms of Konrad Zuse's First Computer (https://arxiv.org/pdf/1406.1886) * Some more information on the reconstructed elements (https://fjkraan.home.xs4all.nl/mechanics/zuseGates/)