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Sinclair ZX81 Made Out of Lego

Posted by samzenpus on from the blast-from-the-past dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I used Lego's Digital Designer software to build a model of a Sinclair ZX81 — the computer that kicked me off on my interest in such matters way back in 1981. Until very recently, the software allowed you to upload your model, buy it and get a boxed set with all the pieces to build it (as well as instructions). The ZX81 model is as close to the shape of the original as I could make it, considering that Lego is quite a lo-resolution modelling tool. I even made it so that you can lift off the lid and see a representation of the PCB in side. I have also posted the model to Lego's Cuusoo site — a place where you can post ideas, and if they gain enough support they will be considered for production."

15 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Why would anyone care about this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I don't understand how this would be important to anyone. I want the last 30 seconds of my life back.

    1. Re:Why would anyone care about this? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      You'd only waste them.

    2. Re:Why would anyone care about this? by AngryDeuce · · Score: 4

      I want the last 30 seconds of my life back.

      If couldn't have taken much longer than that to build the fucking thing in the first place. It's a black box for Christ's sake...

      The fact that this was considered /. worthy by anyone has me torn, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

    3. Re:Why would anyone care about this? by Master+Moose · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I must be the only one in the world excited by this - Only because it taught me about the existance of the Lego Digital Designer - and it runs in wine!

      --
      . . .gone when the morning comes
    4. Re:Why would anyone care about this? by shastamonk · · Score: 5, Informative

      No kidding. Just downloaded and played with it for a bit, this program is awesome! I think it serves as a great introductory step towards 3D modeling for children, learning how to navigate a simple 3D space in the context of positioning pieces, and most kids are already very familiar with lego pieces, not so much with vertices and polygons.

  2. Next? by garf · · Score: 3, Funny

    RAM Pack?

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    H&Ks Garf
    1. Re:Next? by Dogtanian · · Score: 3, Funny

      RAM Pack?

      Being made of Lego bricks, you could be confident of at least being able to stably attach the model rampack to the Lego ZX81, which is more than you could ever say about the real thing! (^_^)

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      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  3. Wow.... by ZigZagJoe · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and this is slashdot worthy, why?

    1. Re:Wow.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Absolutely agree... when I first saw this I had assumed he was using mechanical logic or something to simulate the instruction set, but... a black box?!? Why in the world would anyone over the age of 6 care about this?

    2. Re:Wow.... by Dogtanian · · Score: 4, Funny

      Absolutely agree... when I first saw this I had assumed he was using mechanical logic or something to simulate the instruction set, but... a black box?!?

      It still has twice as much processing power as an actual ZX81, though.

      --
      "Slashdot - News and Chat Sites Deviant". (Click "homepage" link above for details).
  4. Now by CSMoran · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Next step -- make it compute.

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    Every end has half a stick.
  5. Re:Obligatory by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 4, Funny

    but..does it run Linux?

    Not even with the 16K RAM pack upgrade.

    And no, I cannot imagine a Beowulf cluster of them either.

  6. Even better by hawguy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just snapped together 3 black legos to create a nearly exact replica of an I.C... at least as close to the original as I could make with legos.

    If I can find a few more black legos, I think I can make a replica of the 40 pin DIP package of the Z-80 CPU that drives the original poster's ZX81 computer.

  7. The Decline of Slashdot by wjcofkc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The singularity hub might make a good replacement for slashdot. They have all the great nerdy articles but nothing of psychics on the moon or lego calculators that can't actually calculate. They have a commenting system but no users to comment. We have the commenting users, they have great content. Sucks to say this as I have been here since 97

    singularityhub.com

    by by karma, something had to be said.

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  8. This is kinda neat by Omnifarious · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I used to own one of these. I soldered it together out of a kit when I was 11, with some help from my dad. I accidentally left the soldering iron against part of the case though, so there was a neatly melted hole there. :-)

    When we added the 16k RAM pack, we discovered that the power supply was stretched to its limit providing the current for all that. So he designed a new case out of wood and aluminum and also reverse-engineered the keyboard hookup and got a keyboard with actual moving keys from a local electronics parts shop. Unfortunately, there is now something wrong with how the tape jack is grounded, and it can't record on tape anymore. :-(

    I still have it though, 30 years later. The first computer I ever owned. I even have the sheets I made up collecting machine instructions by addressing mode (since they were listed by number in the manual) to make it easier to write machine language programs for it. I wrote my own binary multiplier since the ZX-80 chip doesn't have a multiply instruction.

    This lego thing is vaguely interesting. It's neat to see the familiar shape again. :-)

    --
    Need a Python, C++, Unix, Linux develop