Mechanical Computer

Possible just for fun, more art than anything else, so lean into that.

ROM (paper)

Punched paper is easy to use as ROM.

Switch

The base of an EM computer is a relay switch.

Reed relays will run about $1/piece. So that could get expensive fast.

The issue is amplification. We need to be able to make sure a signal doesn't degrade. But instead of over-engineering, we can forgo amplification and make sure that the degradation is small enough that any operation can correctly write to the register. The register can be latching relays.

Since this is a fixed thing, I could a DIY gravity latch relay. Possibly even an XY movement to position an array of relays.

Function Cams

For some functions, 2D cams can encode. This needs to be changed to a binary operation.