Kids learn computer theory with wood, cardboard, and hot glue
- Reference: 1768987813
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2026/01/21/eniac_model_build/
- Source link:
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The ENIAC replica
ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) was the first general-purpose, programmable electronic computer. Conceived during the Second World War, construction began in 1944 and finished in 1945. Weighing 30 short tons (about 27 metric tons), it was formally accepted by the US Army Ordnance Corps - which had financed it - in 1946.
While other computing devices existed, including Britain's [2]Colossus , ENIAC's general-purpose design set it apart from specialized machines like code-breakers.
The original is long gone, dismantled as obsolete and its components distributed to museums and universities. However, students at PS Academy Arizona have put together a 500-square-foot replica consisting of 45 individual units using original archival documents and historical references. The recreation is of ENIAC as it was first commissioned, marking the machine's 80th anniversary.
Technology instructor Tom Burick calls it "a full-scale, historically accurate structural replica," though it is not functional. Assembling the almost 18,000 vacuum tubes needed by the real thing would be impractical.
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"All electronic components are visually simulated, not electrically active," he said.
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"Vacuum tubes were recreated using paper printed elements that match the size, spacing, and density of the originals... Cabling paths and plugboard interfaces were recreated visually and spatially so students could understand how dense, repetitive, and precise the machine was."
Burick told The Reg that approximately 80 students labored for six months on the replica, first on design and ensuring it would be accurate at scale, and then on the tedious, repetitive work of creating and assembling the elements.
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"That repetition is historically appropriate," said Burick. "The original ENIAC required the same kind of patient, precise labor, just with soldering irons instead of hot glue."
[7]The National Museum of Computing reboots Bletchley Park's H Block
[8]'Facebook simply would not exist today if not for Bletchley Park,' says social network – but don't hold that against it
[9]ZX Spectrum: Q&A with some of the folks who worked on legendary PC
[10]DIY Sinclair clones: Left it too late to back the Next? Build your own instead
Instead of large steel panels full of wiring and electronics, the 1:1 panels are made from layered cardboard and wood, with a smattering of LED lighting. "Every major unit, accumulators, function tables, initiator, master programmer, is present and placed exactly where it was on the original machine," said Burick.
There are several decent [11]ENIAC simulators out there, but the approach of Burick and the students is more about understanding how the original ENIAC engineers solved problems and grasping the logic and workflow of early computing.
"This project was never intended to recreate a working ENIAC," said Burick. "It was designed to recreate the experience, scale, and structure of ENIAC – so students and the public can understand what early computing really looked like and what it demanded of the people who built and operated it." ®
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[1] https://regmedia.co.uk/2026/01/19/eniac_replica.jpg
[2] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/15/the_national_museum_of_computing/
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_onprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aXCx007lnxrSRDd2pRmnGwAAAAs&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
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[7] https://www.theregister.com/2024/11/15/the_national_museum_of_computing/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2020/10/14/facebook_bletchley_park/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/30/zx_at_40/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/01/06/diy_sinclair_clones/
[11] https://www.cs.drexel.edu/~bls96/eniac/simulator.html
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Re: Blue Peter
In the 60s or 70s I made a rudimentary computing machine using a cornflake box and home-made punch cards which was almost certainly from Blue Peter or Magpie. After a quick search I can't find it on the web or remember exactly how it worked but the cards had 4 holes at the top some of which were cut open at the top to form slots and the holes/slots representing 1/0 (or 0/1) for numbers 1-15. Corresponding slots were cut a the top of the cornflake box and the cards held in place by pushing pencils through the holes in the cards and suspending them in the box. I think there was a sliding flap under the cards to hold them in place and a "results" slot at the bottom. You could do somehow do multi-step computation by the selecting numbers with the arrangement of pencils then removing the flap and the cards that fell out were part of the solution to be fed to the next stage.
Inevitable
But
Can it run Doom?
Re: Inevitable
On paper, yes.
I have to say I think this is absolutely fucking awesome - there is so much bloat and crap floating around the IT industry these days because new kids coming through don't know any better, and often have only a vague connection to how it used to be.
That kind of "bricks and mortar" understanding of where IT has come from, and what it took to get here seems to be sorely lacking in the industry today, and anything that can be done to reverse that atrophy and inspire some genuine innovation (rather than just clever marketing), and genuine efficiency (rather than needing a hundred different dependencies to process a mouse click) can only be a good thing.
Next on the list would be showing the students any half-decent Spectrum game in action, and requiring them to come up with a method to fit it into 48k of RAM - it was done 40 years ago, we don't seem to be able to even get close today, but somehow we call it "progress"...
Mandatory Elite link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC4YLMLar5I
Blue Peter
Sounds like something Blue Peter would make out of old corn flakes boxes.