Here is an alt link: https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2025/08/researchers-build-f...
Anyone know where I can read it?
[PDF] https://www.researchsquare.com/article/rs-5494383/latest.pdf
Digital logic is the system of gates and switches that we use as an abstraction layer over analog circuits. AND, OR, XOR, etc.
You certainly could build logic gates out of gears, and this would be a digital mechanical computer. But it’s not often done.
The bigger deal is 200mW for 30Ghz. Which incidentally... Is probably never going to be nice for modern AI.
What we call "computer" today is really a "general-purpose computer."
Although, personally I think it's a stretch of semantics to call a mechanical clock a "computer."
CPGs (Central Pattern Generators) were often implemented using simple RC (resistor-capacitor) circuits within his "nervous net" (NvNet) architectures. The RC circuits generated rhythmic patterns that drove the robots' motor behaviors, allowing gaits to emerge naturally from the interaction of these analog components with the environment and the robot's mechanical structure. This approach enabled adaptive, robust locomotion without requiring complex digital control systems.
His 6-legged robots could lose a leg, and the system would take feedback from the stuck or missing leg, and learn to walk with 5 or 4 legs. Amazing stuff.
Eddy_Viscosity2•5mo ago