Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Desktop Turing-Welchman Bombe Build

Posted by timothy on from the purely-awesome dept.

An anonymous reader writes: I completed a months long project to build my own version of the Turing-Welchman Bombe. My machine uses a Raspberry Pi2 and an Arduino to drive stepper motors to turn the three output indicator drums and to drive an LCD display, to work like the indicator unit on the real Bombe. Everything was custom made by me at home. The unit is built to reflect the style of the real Bombe at Bletchley Park and to run in a similar way but as a portable, desktop sized unit. To demonstrate it I use the same Weather Report Menu as used at BP to demonstrate their real Bombe. The entire build was painstakingly documented over many months but the link given shows an overview and a film of the completed machine in action.

69 comments

  1. PLEASE by wbr1 · · Score: 5, Funny

    For the love of all that is holy, do not take it to a school in Texas.

    --
    Silence is a state of mime.
    1. Re:PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Why not? As long as he's brown, he'll get free tuition and a visit to the White House out of it.

    2. Re:PLEASE by binarstu · · Score: 5, Funny

      For the love of all that is holy, do not take it to a school in Texas.

      And if you do take it to a school in Texas, when questioned by the authorities, don't make the mistake of saying, "No, no, don't worry -- it's just a bombe!"

    3. Re:PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      I'm sure he won't unless he's an attention whore like that kid and his father.

    4. Re:PLEASE by plalonde2 · · Score: 1

      Asshat.

    5. Re:PLEASE by MechaStreisand · · Score: 2

      No, he was right; I'd say the kid and his dad were more attention whores than asshats.

      --
      Disclaimer: IANAL. This post is, however, legal advice, and creates an attorney-client relationship.
    6. Re:PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Asshat.

      No, attention whore.

    7. Re:PLEASE by davester666 · · Score: 1

      Just carry around a sign "It's just a bombe!" That way, it's clear to everyone it's not a bomb.

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    8. Re:PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the love of all that is holy, do not take it to a school in Texas.

      And if you do take it to a school in Texas, when questioned by the authorities, don't make the mistake of saying, "No, no, don't worry -- it's just a bombe!"

      Odds are, bombes are ok. The teacher after looking at it and storing it in the back of the room will eventually submit it to principal stating that she doesn't think it's a bombe and so the police must be called.

      Then the police will see it and say, we have to arrest someone because the school called us out here; but, we don't really think it is dangerous, unless you leave it under a car in which case someone might be scared. Being scared in Texas is dangerous, so we are justified in the arrest.

      That's right, Texas land of the (not so) brave. Scaring your neighbor leads to arrest, because you know, those Texans are pansies.

      Just whatever you do, don't claim it is a clock. That's just asking for it.

    9. Re:PLEASE by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      So they should have meekly accepted the arrest and harassment over a freaking clock project?

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    10. Re:PLEASE by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When you consider he purposely made a clock that could be mistaken for a bomb and fully expected this outcome to make a political statement, yes.

  2. ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nobody did claim broken the Enigma.

    1. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ... and by the time the war broke out, they had already switched over to much more complicated systems that still fell under the name enigma . but again the rightest Slashdot posters with their anti-gay propaganda pushing very misleading information to minimize the accomplishments of a gay person (or something like that. I have no idea what the fuck you are even talking about).

    2. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by myowntrueself · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      ... and by the time the war broke out, they had already switched over to much more complicated systems that still fell under the name enigma . but again the rightest Slashdot posters with their anti-gay propaganda pushing very misleading information to minimize the accomplishments of a gay person (or something like that. I have no idea what the fuck you are even talking about).

      Gay pride is just as bad as gay hate. Gay pride just amounts to conceit; its not an achievement, its not something amazing they've done with their lives, its not even a lifestyle choice. Be unashamed but don't be 'proud'.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    3. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      wth. why not be proud.

      turing substantially helped the war and was one of the key figures who defined modern computation

      and they harassed the poor man until he killed himself

      the fact that some small fraction of the worlds gay population can celebrate and not cower in fear
      is a huge advancement. and you can fuck off.

    4. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by myowntrueself · · Score: 4, Insightful

      wth. why not be proud.

      turing substantially helped the war and was one of the key figures who defined modern computation

      and they harassed the poor man until he killed himself

      the fact that some small fraction of the worlds gay population can celebrate and not cower in fear
      is a huge advancement. and you can fuck off.

      Pride is something you feel about something you achieved not an accident of birth. Is it an accident of birth, something over which you have no control? If so then pride is entirely inappropriate, just like being proud of the colour of your eyes.

      If I were proud of having brown hair wouldn't I be conceited? How about being proud of being heterosexual, proud of not being gay? Is that ok by you? No? Get over yourself.

      Don't be ashamed of what you are but reserve pride for your true achievements.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    5. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by zenlessyank · · Score: 1

      Fucking A. Preach it. Mod this up as 'Obvious As Fuck'. Sadly, I am sure this floats right over most peeps heads.

    6. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 0

      Gay pride is just as bad as gay hate.

      Yes sure in magic pixie land where gay people didn't suffer serious systematic oppression by the legal system, or systematic oppression by normal people then yes of course in *that* context "gay pride" makes no sense.

      Back in the real world, though, your distillation of complex nuanced issues into super-stark black-and-white proclamations indicated that you've not thought about things very well.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    7. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Lovely how the modding works on this pos pseudo scientist website. The comment about the code being broken gets censored but gay propaganda stays. The truth gets swept under for the sake of political correctness. These guys broke the code not the weak spirited (yes he was when he gave up by killing himself) Turing :https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marian_Rejewski

    8. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Turing also didn't break the 4-wheel Enigma code. Joe Desch and the crew at NCR in Dayton, Ohio did. Turing's machine only cracked 3-wheel Enigma messages. The 4-wheel Enigmas required a MUCH larger effort to crack, and a much faster machine.

      So much faster, in fact, that core memory had to be invented to support it. The bombes spun at a few thousand RPM's in the NCR machine and they required mechanical braking whenever they found a code match. By the time the brake engaged and the bombes were spun down, they had to "rewind" back to the correct code. A 10-bit core memory cell was used to count the bombe revolutions post-match and rewind back to the match.

      Desch literally invented RAM to do what Turing was unable to do.

      Turing was kinda pissed about it and refused to cooperate with the NCR team. That got him on the UK government's shit list, and probably helped lead to his eventual institutionalization.

    9. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by myowntrueself · · Score: 0

      What if you were constantly being threatened, denigrated or otherwise being made to feel that you're inferior because of your brown hair ? I would applaud you for holding your head up and announce to the bigots " I'm proud of my brown hair, you're the one with the problem". We're around and we're brown; get used to it.

      Be proud of your achievements, not your sexuality.

      If you've stood up to oppression visited on you because of your sexuality, be proud of that!

      But if you believe that your sexuality itself is an accident of birth, being proud of *that* would be conceited. Of course, if you've *become* gay and chosen this lifestyle, well then you could be proud of having made that decision.

      There are a lot of people out there who, and I'm sure this will amaze you, couldn't care less about your sexuality. They neither approve nor disapprove; its not our business what you do in the bedroom, its not our business if you kiss your boy/girlfriend in the street. But when you start to harp on about it, this creates a bad atmosphere and actually turns people against you who would otherwise be neutral. Can you believe this??

      Be proud of your achievements but don't lay it on with a trowel, you would just be making people sick of hearing about it.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    10. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is a peep?

    11. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

      Yes and no. The Poles broke the commercial version of Enigma as these machines had been sold to businesses like banks that needed to secure their communications. This version had only 3 rotors. By the time Germany invaded Poland, they had started using a modified form which used 3 out of 5 rotors and a plugboard for the Luftwaffe and Army versions. The Naval version used 3 out 8 rotors and a plugboard and later in the war added a 4 rotor. These modifications greatly increased the encryption and while the Polish work was helpful, the daily and message settings for the machine was the main puzzle that the British had to solve.

      I seem to remember that in the movie, Turing based the "bombe" after the Polish design which could break the commercial version and that it was the Poles that smuggled out a machine to the Allies. Both of these are true.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    12. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Coren22 · · Score: 1

      I always wondered why Turing is worshiped, while Gordon Welchman is rarely mentioned. As I recall, Turing did the software, and Welchman did the hardware, but I could be misremembering history.

      --
      APK likes to ask for responses to the same things over and over. Maybe he just likes the responses?
    13. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      For Turing, breaking Enigma was only one of his accomplishments. His contributions to the start of the computer age overshadow everything he's done during the war. Welchman's post-war work was more in the shadows.

      The BBC did a hour-long documentary on Welchman recently.

      With up to 9000 personnel, plus key suppliers like Tommy Flowers and his group at Post Office Research (who built Colossus), and Harold 'Doc' Keen of the British Tabulating Machine Company (who built the bombes), there's plenty of unsung heroes at Bletchley Park.

    14. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you finalky someone who gocuses on science instead of sexuality.

    15. Re: ROT13 in the WW-II era.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      wth. why not be proud.

      Axiomatically, if everyone is special, then no one is special.

      One should be proud of one's accomplishments, not essentially innate qualities. Tall people should not be proud of being taller than short people, nor whites being whiter than blacks (or vice versa).

      Turing could be proud because of his accomplishments in CS and his efforts in the war. He should not be proud for being born gay if that is innate. If you think being gay is a choice, because you "chose" to be straight, then sure, the people that chose to be gay can be as proud of that as race or sports players who chose to risk their lives for adrenaline highs.

      If you are a pale Irishman and manage to somehow "power-tan" yourself into pigmented skin and wiry hair, then preside over the black panthers or whatever, sure, pride away. If you win (Un)/"Gayest dude of the year" award, sure, be proud of that too, but being born and adhering to generally genetic/environmental traits is generally not a valid "accomplishment".

  3. Hey! by Mister+Transistor · · Score: 0

    That Bombe looks like a clock!

    Panic!!

    --
    -- You are in a maze of little, twisty passages, all different... --
  4. TARDIS by andrewa · · Score: 1

    Nice TARDIS in the corner there...

    --
    :(){ :|:& };:
    1. Re:TARDIS by jandersen · · Score: 2

      Not a TARDIS, but a Portaloo, aka TURDIS.

  5. Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 0

    This is an amazing accomplishment. I can't help thinking how sad it is, however, that all the brilliance and effort that went into this didn't go into doing something that would have been more productive. Solving problems that have already been solved, but in a novel way, just seems like an incredible squandering of talent to me. There are so many problems that still need solutions. Still, I will say it again. It is indeed quite impressive work.

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    1. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Christ alive!

      Well shit man, posting negative comments on the internet is (a) not really any kind of achievement and (b) been so done before that it's hard to describe just how done before it really has been.

      Frankly using your own terms of judgement for the original poster will see you, because of your post, judged much, much more harshly.

      The guy has a hobby, and it's a cool nerdy one that many people here like to read about. I have hobbies too with which I will never change the world, and that the slashdot crowd it unlikely to ever want to read about, and that I'm frankly not as good as this guy. Are you going to crap all over my pencil sketches too because I'm never going to change the world with them?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    2. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1
      My original post, with emphasis added:

      "This is an amazing accomplishment. I can't help thinking how sad it is, however, that all the brilliance and effort that went into this didn't go into doing something that would have been more productive. Solving problems that have already been solved, but in a novel way, just seems like an incredible squandering of talent to me. There are so many problems that still need solutions. Still, I will say it again. It is indeed quite impressive work."

      ... and your bizarre interpretation:

      "Well shit man, posting negative comments on the internet ..."

      It takes a particularly negative person to interpret what I wrote as a negative comment. You must have never heard of constructive criticism. I especially love the irony of you posting a criticism of my post while simultaneously speaking against the idea of having anything critical to say. Great stuff man. Keep up the hypocrisy!

      "I have hobbies too with which I will never change the world, and that the slashdot crowd it unlikely to ever want to read about, and that I'm frankly not as good as this guy."

      Exactly my point. When you pencil sketch, it is no great loss to the art community. Had Einstein done the equivalent of pencil sketching it would have been a loss to humanity.

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    3. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      ... and your bizarre interpretation:

      Yep totally bizarre that I think the following are negative:

      I can't help thinking how sad it is,

      incredible squandering of talent

      weird. Cannot understand it.

      You must have never heard of constructive criticism.

      It's not constructive criticism to tell someone what he does in his spare time sucks because he ought to be bettering humanity. You're simply telling him you don't like how he spends his time away from work and you'd rather he do other things for your gratification.

      I especially love the irony of you posting a criticism of my post while simultaneously speaking against the idea of having anything critical to say.

      Well reading comprehension fail there. I'm not against all criticism, but I think your criticism was douchy.

      Keep up the hypocrisy!

      Yet you're the one wasting time on slashdot telling others they ought to spend their time better. Now *that*, my man, is hypocrisy.

      Had Einstein done the equivalent of pencil sketching it would have been a loss to humanity.

      He did. He played the violin. Are you honstly claiming that him playing the violin was a loss to humanity? Do you have any evidence to suggest he didn't need that down time in order to do his job properly?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    4. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      " what he does in his spare time sucks"

      You are an idiot for even suggesting I said that. I said he has incredible talent, and it would be better served using it to make the world a better place. That you can see that as negative speaks volumes about you. I didn't bother to read the rest of your drivel. Off you go now sketchy ...

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    5. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      That you can see that as negative

      You literally said that he was squandering talent.

      You are an idiot for even suggesting I said that.

      You're a moron for not even realising that's what you said.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    6. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      "You literally said that he was squandering talent.

      I thought, according to you, I said what he does in his spare time sucks. Make up your fucking mind, will you sketchy? You evidently don't know that squandering can mean to allow (an opportunity) to pass or be lost, as in he has a real opportunity to add value to humanity with his impressive talent, and he isn't taking advantage of it. Clearly you speak English about as well as you doodle. Now off you go again there, sketchy ...

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    7. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      I thought, according to you, I said what he does in his spare time sucks.

      Yes. You said it was a colossal waste of talent. If that's not full of suckage, I don't know what is.

      Or are you actually sufficiently thick that you don't realise that telling someone that they are wasting their life is in fact an insult?

      Whatever. You get your jollies cutting down other people. You should at lease be honest/self aware enough to admit it.

      I like how you ignored the point about Einstein because you managed to pick an example directly contradicting yourself.

      Clearly you speak English about as well as you doodle. Now off you go again there, sketchy ...

      Oh that's what you were whittering on about. Is that supposed to be an insult or something?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    8. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      You almost had me going there. You really had me looking back at what I wrote to see if it was even conceivable that I said it was a colossal waste of talent. Of course, I didn't write that, and you are clearly a delusional troll. You also need to look up the phrase: off you go ...

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    9. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      s/colossal/incredible/

      You actually said that. You know you said that. We both know you're being an arse towards this guy and as if you're determined to prove the point you're now engaging in nit-picking pedantry.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    10. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      One of us certainly is :-)

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    11. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      And that makes sense how?

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    12. Re:Brilliant and sad by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 1

      Have a nice day!

      --
      Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
    13. Re:Brilliant and sad by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Have a nice day!

      I have other plans.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  6. i completed...my machine....made by me... by turkeydance · · Score: 1

    is this a Trump post?

  7. How many have you solved? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yeah, and how many of these important problems have you solved? Stop shitting on people for how they choose to spend their free time. If they had been eating chips while watching I Love Lucy reruns after work you'd still be out of line.

    1. Re: How many have you solved? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent up. This is a very cool project.

      At the risk of sounding like a grumpy old man, I remember when nifty stuff like this used to be (rightly) lauded on Slashdot.

  8. But who set it up? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It looks like someone set it up for us.

  9. In old school vein... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Here are a couple of vids of the renovated Hartree Difference Analyser in action. (A pre-war analog computer built from Meccano.)
    Nerd Potter's Wheel.

    (For those of an archo-nerdish persuasion. the narrator of the first video is Charles Lindsey - author of "An Informal Introduction to Algol 68".)

  10. Impressive! by ModelerRick · · Score: 1

    I managed to get an Enigma simulator into the AppStore http://ricks-thoughts.denhaven... The bombe is orders of magnitude harder,I'm sure.

  11. Re:Boring by lucm · · Score: 1

    But there's a hot wheels racetrack and what appears to be parts of a lacross stick encased in his dining room table! And a tardis thing taking half the room available in his kitchen! How cool is that!

    --
    lucm, indeed.
  12. You didn't built a Bombe by DerekLyons · · Score: 1

    I completed a months long project to build my own version of the Turing-Welchman Bombe.

    No, you didn't. You programmed a Bombe simulator and then spent months building an output display.

    Though I suppose from a certain point of view the output display could be considered a cool thing, but it isn't a Bombe.

    1. Re:You didn't built a Bombe by freeze128 · · Score: 2

      Though I suppose from a certain point of view the output display could be considered a cool thing, but it isn't a Bombe.

      Tell that to the cops.

  13. Re:Boring by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The tardis isn't taking half the available room. That's where the dining room, workshop, ball room, and extra 1000 bedrooms are.

  14. Pure awesomeness by gwolf · · Score: 1

    Maybe it's that I'm "into" embedded stuff and all that. Or maybe it's because I've been studying my Masters at a school with heavy emphasis on crypto. But this project rings my nerdy bells in so many ways I cannot really count anymore. It's way past cool.

    The only thing that lets me down a bit is that there's so little following of the idea here at Slashdot. It's as great as it gets. Congratulations!

  15. WOW by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One of the most impressive things I have seen in a really long time.

  16. The Bombe at Bletchley by mrbill1234 · · Score: 1

    Front:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Rear:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  17. What the heck is an "LCD Display"? by MoarSauce123 · · Score: 1

    The "D" in "LCD" already means display. "LCD Display" is like white mustang, free gift, ATM machine.... The project is neat, but with the lack of understanding technical terms the OP instantly drops down a few notches on the credibility scale.

  18. resume templates by bhushan007 · · Score: 1

    i started blogging related to resume so for more info click here best creative resume examples for jobs