Dimensions
8 HP
53 mm deep
Current Draw
45 mA +12V
15 mA -12V
0 mA 5V
Price
$339 Price in €

This Module is currently available.

Omni-Logic Gate

https://www.schreibmaschine.berlin/modular

The Brainiac is an 8-input logic module with 8 different logical gate outputs.

It has all the classic logical outputs (AND/OR/XOR) and their opposites (NAND/NOR/XNOR) as well as a Majority and Minority output which go high when more or less than half of the used inputs are high.

Input Tracking

Unlike most logic modules, the Brainiac keeps track of how many cables are actually plugged into the front panel. Some of the logical outputs will have different states depending on how many cables are plugged into the inputs.
The order of inputs does not matter, all 8 inputs are interchangable.

Classical Logic Outputs

AND/NAND

AND goes high when all of the used inputs are high. NAND goes high when not all of them are high.
These functions are based on how many cables are plugged in

OR/NOR

OR goes high if any of the inputs are high.
NOR goes high if none of the inputs are high.

XOR/XNOR

Majority & Minority Outputs

Majority goes high if more than half of the used inputs are high.
Minority goes high if fewer than half of the used inputs are high.
Neither of these outputs will trigger if Exactly half of them are high (the half output is available in and upcoming expander)
e.g. If you have 5 cables plugged in and 3 or more of them are high, then Majority goes high, if 2 or fewer are high then Minority goes high.
These functions are based on how many cables are plugged in

Turing Machine Integration

Using the Brainiac as a Turing Machine Expander

The Brainiac can be plugged into a Music Thing Turing Machine MkII as an expander and the 8 gate signals from the Turing will route to the 8 inputs of the brainiac. When it is used in this mode the Brainiac inputs can still be used and are "diode summed" so each input can be triggered by either the Turing or the Brainiac input.

Using Turing Machine Expanders on the Brainiac

The Brainiac can also control Turing Machine expanders without a Turing Machine. In this case Turing expanders like "Volts", "Pulses", "Voltages", and "Vactrol Mixer" will accept the 8 inputs of the brainiac in lieu of a Turing Machine.
In this case the input numbers on the Brainiac actually matter since the Turing Expanders care which of the 8 gates is high.

Expansions

There are two expanders available for the Brainiac

Binary

This expander exposes the number of inputs used and the number of inputs that are high each as a 4 bit BCD (binary coded decimal) you can use this to make some funky rhythms.

Explicit

This expander derives all of the other logical outputs I could think of and it is what truly makes the Brainiac an Omni-Logic Gate. It outputs Half, !Half and Equals X, !Equals X, Less Than X, and Greater Than X for each number 1-8.

Analog Computer

The Brainiac is all CMOS and has a lot in common with old analog computers. But since it has no clock or microcontrollers it does not wait for a clock pulse to calculate the output and can run at audio rates to make logical drones.

www.schreibmaschine.berlin


submitted Jun 10th 2021, 22:35 by briandavism | last Change Oct 19th 2021, 20:10 by briandavism

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