For a while iv been kicking around an idea for a project, nothing too complex just an HDD activity display. ok its killing me i got to tell you guys what im planing. iv always been fasinated(sp?) at the thought of using organic parts in a computer. so i had the idea of casting a full size replica of a human brain with part of the spine and nerves, in the brain will be a lot of LEDs to simulate the firing of Nueons(sp?) in a random fashin when the HDDs are being accesed (make it look like the brain is the HDD. then putting it in an old glass medical speciman bottle (the kind you might see in frankenstien. have part of the spine and nerves coming off the back with a bunch of wires attached and then running up and out the top of the bottle to a box that then connects to the computer (only one set of wires from the box will actully be live) then maybe fill the bottle/jar with a tinted water to look like Formhaldahyde(SP!?) (the stuff they use to keep biological specimans preserved) this way when the computer acceses the hard drives it looks like the brain is thinking and sending information to the computer. thought it would look cool sitting on my desk next to my computer.
Well, that would be a 100% original idea! How many leds were you planning on having in the brain? Also a clear brain like in the Sudafed adverts would look mucho cool!
im thinking ALOT of leds run on a randomizing curcuit and as for brain material i was thinking of a translucent grey material probebly an epoxy/caulking compound material maybe i want it to hold up (epoxy) but i also want it to have that organic rubbery-ish looking texture (caulking compund) so im not sure what im going to make it out of yet. needs to be opaque enough so you cant see the LEDs or through it but translucent enough so the light from the LEDs shows from within. oh yeah the LEDs will be inside the brain and at varius depths. still working out the specifics
How were you planning on building it, just have the leds in a mould and pour the epoxy (or whatever) in? Should end up looking cool, anyhow!
nice idea how about using one of those plastic biology model brains u get - then covers it with plaster of paris to make your mould and then use that to fill with resin and insert the wired LED's where you want them as the resin sets. all u need to do then is clean of the plaster to reveil your brain? only snag is you would have to work out a way to make the mould in 2 halfs so you cout get the plastic model in and out ok. Also you would need to have an air bubble in the middle to give it some boyancy in the jar, which i would assume you could make by sticking a straw in via the brain stalk (where i assume your wires will be running anyway and where it will look least obtrusive, and blowing a bubble of air in. you would need the resin to be setting though so the air doesnt work its way out of the middle. finall thaught - how about using some kind of oil like minneral oil or even cooking oil - would be better for the heavy 'brains' boyancy as its thicker and heavier than water and would give that gungy lab specimin feel to it, plus its a cheap everyday item easy to get hold of. just some thaughts. hope it goes well
That is one of the coolest computer ideas I have seen recently. I'm not sure how you are planning to do the led randomizer but if you can, a pic microcontroller would probably be the best. I like the idea of having a liquid surrounding the brain and as long as you used 5 volts or less for the led's you won’t have to worry about insulation too much. One thing I am wondering about though, how are you going to get the wires into the jar, through the lid or maybe through holes in the side or bottom?
I was thinking through the top basicaly a bundel of wires comming in through the top of the bottle/ jar down to the bottom and then up the brain stem. this is going to take a while as i am currently unemploied and in short supply of cash but i will try and keep this updated regularly im not to good with electronics so the LED randomization is going to take some looking into Thank you all for the interest
would the brain hold any computer parts? or just the leds, cause if so the glass jar would have to be reallly big. I have an idea similar to this, but I have to finish my current project b4 I even start trying to flesh it out
very cool idea, it would be really hard to get a whole comptuer into a life sized brain, i would personally just put the led's in there keep up the good work
I did an LED randomiser project for my AS level electronics project... probably still have the plans around here somewhere if you want to have a look at them.
well i had thought about it, but the extra amount of work didnt seem to justify it for the little return. but i might be thinking it through wrong. I would love to. thanks alot, save me alot of time and agrivation of designing one from scratch No it wouldnt hold any computer components. no way to cool it because it would have to be water tight because it would be in a jar of water/liquid
My first thought was to have a bundle of fibre optic cables connect to the brain, and then trail away to the control board which contains the electronics and LEDs. No wires, and no electronics to get wet. As for making it random, there are many ways to do it, just pick one and go for it Sounds way cool
hey draxin, sounds like a cool idea...but how about incorportating some small parts of computers into the brain mold? like some small wires running around, maybe a little bit of motherboard sticking out from the surface or soemthing. make it look jsut that little bit more sci-fi-ish to a straight boring brain. just a thought. also, maybe if you could incorp a motor or something into the inside of the brain like those toys that jiggled around? think they were called jigglers matter of fact. the motor was connected to a cog and was off set so when it spun it threw the toy around. could looks cool, the brain randomly jiggling a small amount every now and then...mmm oh, jsut another thing. are you gonna ahve it sitting in a jar next to the computer? maybe you could incorporate it into the actual case somehow? like redesign the case so the front top area and a few of the drive bays are filled with the brain jar. or maybe have it sticking out from a hole...dont know. good luck, and keep us posted. this could be very cool when finished!
