#Real tiny locomotives

[engineer-gunzelpunk]

Gordon the Big Engine sighting: Royal Melbourne Show

Somehow I am not surprised he’s a C-38.

[weirdmarioenemies]

Name: Buboo

Debut: Kirby: Squeak Squad

Bubbles! Heehee! Hoohoo! What fun! I love bubbles a lot. They are not only fun, but really amazing things! Perfect wobbly orbs of gas, encased in a beautiful shine, sometimes flying around, sometimes just descending, sometimes even landing on the grass or your finger without popping, and it's like a magical moment of connection with an entity so different from you!

Sometimes they pop. This fragile and beautiful marvel of science, suddenly eliminated forever from existence. And that's ok! It's part of the fun! The world will never run out of bubbles, so feel free to obliterate them as you please! You can always make more, whether it's with a bubble wand, your own lips and saliva, or even by a happy little accident, squeezing a bottle of dish soap in just the right way to release a little tiny hovering wonder.

This all being said, I do not love bubbles as much as Buboo does. Buboo may be the number one bubbles fan. With the ability to create spit bubbles, I may be a Bubble Elemental, but even I cannot create enough bubbles to encase myself, and fly! I would if I could! Buboo literally lives at bubbles.

You will notice, however, that I cannot say Buboo IS bubbles. It is among bubbles, but it is not one of them! Like some kind of impostor. But who could this be? Who is red, and has eyes? A scarlet macaw? An angry sunburned dad? Red Jumbo Josh With Four Arms Plush? There are so many things that are red and have eyes! It's going to take me forever to dig through this pile of things that are red and have eyes. I can't eat them all by myself! I'm worried we'll never find out what Buboo's true form is after all...

Hi. I'm just playing around with you here. I know what it is.

It's a little crab! Isn't that a wonderful result? Once its bubbles are all popped, Buboo will fall to the ground and run around, continuing to blow bubbles as a final attack until defeated. I think Squeak Squad, which was my first Kirby game, may have been my first exposure to crabs blowing bubbles in media. I don't think I made the connection, and thought it was just an "elemental animal" without much deeper meaning (besides being really cool and cute, of course). But crabs and bubbles are best friends in real life!

You probably know that some crabs blow bubbles on land! But do you know why? They're not in distress or trying to intimidate another creature or anything. They're just breathing! When a crab breathes out through wet gills, it often comes out as bubbles. It doesn't serve any real purpose, but nothing wrong with bubbles! Also, I like to imagine an exhausted crab sighing, but only bubbles come out, and the sigh is only heard once the bubbles pop. Imagine it. It's whimsical.

Obviously, there is no actual crab that uses bubbles for locomotion... but there is a really awesome snail that does!

This is the violet sea snail! It creates bubbles using its slime, and makes an entire raft out of them, which it spends its whole life attached to upside-down, drifting at the ocean's surface! If you are stranded on an island in an ocean, as a human, you should absolutely not set off on nothing but a raft. But snails are different, and this snail eats Portuguese Men O' War, so clearly it knows what it's doing.

In conclusion, bubbles are so epic and awesome! They are delights and pockets of whimsy to us humans, and to some creature, they are an entire livelihood! I didn't even mention spittlebugs on this post. If you don't know spittlebugs, you should go learn about them! That is your homework. You get a passing grade if you smile at the thought of a spittlebug. Have fun!

[cutiecorner]

A Gift

Fanfic • agere • Caregiver! Alfred Pennyworth, Regressor! Bruce Wayne • AO3

Babybat fic I did real quick last night!! Big fan of incorporating Bruce's autism into his regression, so there's a lot of that here. He's just a lil guy!! He loves trains!!

“Would you like to go in there?”

Bruce was snapped out of his trance by a gentle call. Bruce had been looking through a store window, completely entranced by the display inside. The cold wind biting at his ears, the snow falling on his cheeks, it all melted away as soon as he saw it. It was, in a word, magnificent.

“What? I - No, we should get going,” When Bruce turned back to Alfred, Alfred wasn’t there. He looked back in the window - the butler was already in the store chatting up the clerk. A look wouldn’t hurt, he supposed.

Bruce, against his own will, instantly got butterflies when he went to the store. He felt like a kid in a candy shop, but the goods were much better than sweets. He was surrounded by shelves and shelves of brand new, beautiful, trains.

Model trains lined every wall, many making loops around the perimeter that he craned his neck up to see. He couldn’t help the gleeful smile that spread across his face. Bruce loved trains. Ever since he was a boy and he helped his father set up their decorative train set for the holiday party, he was in love. They were so beautiful to him, he loved knowing every moving mechanism that made such a powerful machine go so far - and the models were no different. Even better, by a certain measure. They were lovingly crafted at a teeny tiny size, perfect to pick up and inspect all the little details.

“Are you going to look around, then?” Alfred made him realize he hadn’t left the doorway. He immediately shuffled in, paying no mind to his dripping wet coat while marveling at the whole store. He walked in excited strides, shoving his hands in his pockets to keep himself from handling all of the merchandise. The temptation was great though, as they all stood in neat rows to be marveled at. Bruce bounced up and down on his toes. He gasped,

“Hey Alfred, come over here!” Alfred came over with a smile, making work of Bruce’s wet coat while his ward rambled about one of the models in front of him.”

“This is the Bachmann HO 50556 USRA Switcher - isn’t it beautiful? It was made in this bright green and red because it was the ‘north pole’ line for christmas. We used to have one remember? In the office?”

“Yes, dear boy, I do remember that one,” There was a fond lilt in Alfred’s voice, considering how often he’d heard about that particular train in Bruce’s youth.

“Oh and this one here is an Athearn Genesis, and this one is a … a…”

Bruce trailed off, looking wide eyed at the display he just spotted in the back. No thought toward the end of his sentence, he gravitated to it, mouth practically agape.

It was a beautiful winter wonderland, with a little town and a ski slope and a water tower. There were children sledding, post workers delivering letters to santa, and best of all-

“A Raton Train locomotive…”

Bruce’s eyes twinkled as he lowered down to the level of the train. He rested his arms on the stand, watching wistfully as the train made its rounds through the elegant little town.

“What have you found there, Master Bruce?” the fondness had doubled in Alfred’s voice, as Bruce sat on the floor and stared like he was a little boy again.

“It’s a Raton Alfred! They’re so wonderfully made, look at that gold finish! I always loved the old locomotives, and this one is just gorgeous. Oh my goodness,” Bruce got even closer to the little train, “The details in these cars! There’s a dining car and a luggage car and… wow. Wow!”

“That sounds lovely, sir. How you could see into those little cars while they’re moving I’ll never know,” Alfred chuckled.

Bruce sprung up and looked around for the clerk. He walked up to the counter, suddenly feeling a little shy. He tried his best to look at the clerk’s face and not where he fidgeted with his sweater.

“Um, excuse me… could I, um, could I please stop that train over there? It’s um, to show my dad.”

“Of course,” The clerk smiled, “little switch on the underside of the table.”

“Thank you!” Bruce practically ran back to the table, ducking under to find the switch.

Alfred’s attention hit a wall at “to show my dad”. To show my dad. To show my dad. He repeated the phrase in his head, looking back down at his giddy son.

"See Alfred, look!" Bruce carefully picked up one of the cars and showed it to Alfred.

"Oh, that's just lovely, darling." Bruce flushed under the praise.

"Would you like one?"

Bruce looked back to the set with wide eyes, then back at Alfred.

"Like - Like the whole thing? The whole set?"

"Yes, dear boy. One of the many perks of being a millionaire," Alfred joked. Bruce couldn't contain his joy, his muscles tightening as he curled inward and flapped his hands with a huge smile.

"Oh really Alfie, really? I can keep it?" Alfred's heart squeezed. "Yes of course - If it's available?" Alfred asked toward the clerk, who nodded in agreement.

Once all the parts were packed and loaded into the car, Bruce couldn't keep but hold the locomotive box in the front with special care. He curled his arms around it, holding it tight to himself like a teddy bear. Bruce happily rocked back and forth, reading every bit of text on the box as they drove off.

"Well, that was lots of fun wasn't it, dear?" Bruce nodded and hummed in response.

"Um Alfred can, um can we put it up when we get home? In the living room where we used to?"

"Of course," fond warmth overtook the both of them as they remembered the holidays with Martha and Thomas. Alfred was on the lookout for signs of Bruce's mood turning, it often did when reminded of his parents. But the turn never came, Bruce continuing to rock and rattle off facts about his new toy all the way home. A wonderful gift, indeed.

[zarvasace]

Ok Random question but if The Colors lived in a time when Hyrule had trains i.e. the Spirit Tracks era, what do you think each Link's relationship with the trains would be. Like would they all end up engineers, maybe Shadow gets spooked by the trains since nothing like that existed in the dark world. I dunno this is just a random thought that has gotten itself lodged in my brain

Okay, so Tumblr didn't show me this came in until now. XD sorry!

I don't know much about Spirit Tracks but I can imagine an early industrial revolution AU with some magic just fine!! :) let's come up with a train-centric steampunky AU:

Kingdom of Hyrule, less of a political kingdom these days, specializing in innovation. They've expanded their rail lines within their borders and have been making deals with other countries to build outward. There is one main rail line sponsored by the government, and universities and a few smaller ones trying to break into the growing industry.

Green, Red, Blue, and Vio are all new graduates of the kingdom's university, each specializing in something different. They're all in minor competition for The Title of Royal Engineer, but otherwise good friends with each other and the dean's daughter Zelda.

Using a steampunky mad science/occult ritual, the most relevant bad guy summons Shadow and, I assume, kicks off the plot.

Green would be kind of an officer—I don't know how train hierarchy works but I can pretend it's something like a ship. He's advancing through the ranks toward captain conductor and took officer classes at school. He's considerate but a little snobbish, coming from a rich family and knowing he's on track to be in charge someday.

Blue clashes the most with him, though Blue doesn't have any intention of being conductor (anymore.) He's well-acquainted with heavy machinery, the real greasy bolts and wheels of it all, and not just for trains. His standards of cleanliness and organization are legendary, and Green consults with him about the condition of the train as a whole.

Red is concerned, of course, with the whole steam-power part of it all. He's intimately familiar with several methods of propulsion, and enjoys trying to come up with more and more efficient engines. He knows exactly how much fuel they need and how to portion it out. He got into some trouble in school for several explosions and usually has soot on his clothes. Where Blue is concerned with every wheel and cog, Red knows the locomotive and tender car like the back of his hand. Better, probably, since his hands are usually blackened or gloved.

Vio's more about the logistics, the theoretical, the communication. He keeps the timetables, the financial records, and telegrams. He's a chronic overworker, and it isn't uncommon to find him napping in his tiny little office chair, several drained cups of coffee rattling on the desk. He's often first off the train at a stop, though he prefers to get back to the office as fast as he can.

Shadow is the ghost in the train. He's the silhouette against the oil lamps, the rippling reflection in the windows, the thing out the corner of your eye. He's the false telegram message, the broken face of the temperature gauge, the bell ringing in an empty compartment.

Okay well that was fun XD got a little more Aesthetic than Conceptual there at the end but hey fun times!

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

 It would sound fun if my world was full of man made lakes so that pretty much all the roads are actually waterways. However I'm wondering where all the water and ground is from and how they create all that? Basically I just want to see the world full of boats instead of cars getting from place to place. I don't mean like single tiny cities like Venice that only works because it's on a lagoon but across the entire world basically. Large busy cities everywhere where the main transportation are boats.

Tex: How big are your lakes? Can anything get bigger than that? We have oodles of lakes on earth, but also significantly larger seas and oceans due to plate tectonics. Is it important to you that the only bodies of waters are lakes across the entirety of the planet, or will a continent or two suffice for the purposes of your worldbuilding? It’s certainly feasible to have your major transportation be via boats, but they will also be heavily dependent upon a consistent amount of water in their area, which will vary based on season and periodic droughts and floods.

Utuabzu: Historically, canals are pretty common. A lot more so than many assume. Prior to the widespread adoption of the steam locomotive and railroads, the most efficient way to transport goods and people in bulk was by water, which is why older cities in Europe and many other places are often criss-crossed by canals, or once were. Even early industrial cities like Birmingham were heavily reliant on canals for bulk transport.

These canals weren’t just intra-city affairs either. The 17th Century Canal du Midi forms a complex with some other waterways that allows boat traffic across France from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic, while the Grand Canal in China is a system stretching over 1700km, with the oldest segments built in the 5th Century BCE, and the system considered to have been completed in 609CE. It is still in use as a major piece of transportation infrastructure.

Canals often also served multiple purposes, such as the canals of Bangkok which also served to drain the swampy marshland the city was built on and irrigate farmland, or the Sanitary and Ship Canal in Chicago, which reversed the flow of the lower Chicago River so that it flowed into the Mississippi river system rather than Lake Michigan, allowing shipping to pass directly between the Mississippi river system and the Great Lakes, and diverting the city’s sewerage away from the lake, where it sourced its drinking water.

Prior to the mid-late 19th Century, most urban areas with suitable geography would fill your needs. The major obstacle is going to be that canals just aren’t very practical in hilly or mountainous terrain, or in desert environments with low precipitation and high evaporation. Both can be worked around - uneven terrain can be traversed with the use of locks, and deserts with either sufficiently high water inflow or by roofing the canal over or building it more like a qanat - but there does need to be a good reason for people to bother doing so. At a certain point it becomes much more cost/effort effective to simply walk.

So, unless your world is fairly flat and pretty damp - or the parts of it relevant to your story at least - there’s going to be places where canals don’t really make sense as transportation infrastructure. But hey, now you’ve got an obstacle you can throw at your characters, so it’s not all bad.

Addy: Is the world heavily aquatic and close to sea level? If not, what advantage is there to using boats? Canals are very expensive to build and offer few benefits for everyday travel (trade is a different story, just look at the Erie Canal). I understand that you’re going for an aesthetic, and you can absolutely do that, but what’s the equivalent of a bus? And boats are fairly slow, being real. Cars also aren’t mandatory, either - plenty of cities are walkable.

Just something to think about.

[weekend-whip]

I heard Mer AU and came running—

Consider for Lloyd something not-venomous, tiny, and very cool

The Leafy Sea Dragon

(That, or a Lemon Shark because they’re social, not very aggressive, and apparently get ‘jealous’ if a diver is giving other lemon sharks in the shiver more attention)

Also if you don’t have one for Cole, may I suggest the Coconut Octopus (one of the few species with bipedal locomotion skills, which would make him even better at walking on land like a normal human, + they carry around coconuts to use as hiding spots)

For Olivia, Tiger Sharks would be my guess over Great Whites, but there’s a ton of terrifying-looking deep-sea sharks (ex. goblin sharks and basket sharks, who are very cool and funky lads who I will not subject photos of upon you and your followers)— or you could just run with the Ninjago mythos and say Megalodon, though that could also fit Lloyd

And for Kai I say maybe a Lemon Shark, a Nurse Shark, a Whale Shark, or a Frilled Shark (the latter I won’t include a photo of because they can be a little scary but they’re also super cool because they’re like living fossils and have barely changed in evolution!)

Definitely also considered Lloyd for a sea dragon! Couldn't remember if it was a real thing or not though haha

Had envisioned a really cool orange-yellow bioluminescent tail fr Cole MMMMBUT you make a compelling argument with the coconut. Maybe could use that for Kai instead...

...except Kai as the Lemon Shark has endeared me snksnksnk and I looked up the Frilled Shark!!! Really super cool!!! and kinda freaky!! but neat!!!

And for Olivia I'm so torn between ~generic shark~ or ~horror from the deep~ so now I'm considering giving her two forms, with a more...intense one for when she gets agitated/upset :O

[bracketsoffear]

Here's my usual dump of submissions that didn't make it:

Ludwig (Bloodborne): Holy shit does this man epitomize Body Horror. Man-horse-creature fucker. Too many legs and arms. Second mouth that's made of eyes. Flailing mass of pain and flesh. BAD HORSE VIBES ABOUND.

Ylfa Snorgelsson (Dimension 20: Neverafter): trapped and starving for days, eventually forced to kill and eat Death itself to survive, consequently turned into a werewolf. Took a Druid subclass specializing in shapeshifting, which manifests as contorting and breaking her body in nightmarish ways. Eventually goes full wolf after giving up the memory of her grandmother.

Mottom (Kill Six Billion Demons): An immortal archmage who was taken as the wife of Hastet Om, who forced himself onto any young woman who caught his eye and then discarded them when they grew old for his tastes--"His appetite was insatiable." Mottom killed him and buried him, but he came back as a monstrous tree with a gaping mouth. Feeding young women's blood to Hastet Om caused the tree to grow immortality-granting peaches which restore youth by causing the old flesh to peel away in a really gross manner. Using her magic and immortality, she became one of the seven queens of the multiverse. She represents the sin of Gluttony: her entire culture is based around being a gracious queen who freely shares the luxuries and glories of her owned worlds with her inner circle. Her parties are extravagant beyond compare, and her appetites strip planets down to the bedrock. She has her servants wear plates of food on their heads, and is constantly eating from them. In fact, her gluttony is so extreme that her desire for a particular fruit that grew in the forest around her home reduced the entire region to a scorched wasteland. She also inflicts Body Horror by turning a rebellious king into a peach tree: "For thy valiant concern o'er hunger, I grant thee a power. The power to tend to the hunger of others. Eternally."

Rykard (Elden Ring): let himself be devoured by the God Devouring Serpent—a primeval being worshipped with human sacrifice—to merge with it, becoming a monstrous man-snake-thing with a sword covered in wriggling arms and a desire to devour the entire world—starting with the player. Lures his champions to his lair, then eats them, leaving their souls conscious and writhing in eternal agony. From TV Tropes: “His transformation has left him a giant snake with long, peeling gashes along the scales, out of which writhe masses of tiny, blackened crimson arms and snake tongues (stated to be the souls of his many victims forever trapped in eternal agony as part of his 'family'). His real face is on the underside of the snake's neck: it's huge and flat, with no ears, bloodshot yellow eyes, and stretched out, ashen skin, with encrusted scales forming his crown, jowls, and beard. He's got two 'main' arms and legs (with too many fingers and toes) sticking out of some of the peeled slices on his scales, jostling for space as they crowd out the miniature arms.”

Charles (Choo Choo Charles): a locomotive with huge spider legs, a nightmarish face with More Teeth than the Osmond Family, and a craving for human flesh.

The Stepmother (Neverafter): Cinderella's stepmother who ate her daughters and became something monstrous. After destroying her name, she starts plucking illustrations from the various versions of her story, or rather, characters from those versions, and eating them. Eventually, she grows big enough and powerful enough to consume characters outside her original story, including the Wicked Queen. She is so horrible and terrifying that seeing her is enough to make The Wicked Fairy tear out her own eyes just to stop looking at her. Her skin is bulging with the worlds and stories she's devoured in her wake, and the mere act of viewing her true form in the sword of truth, combined with Pinocchio finally defying her, shatters reality itself.

The Formless Flesh (Darkest Dungeon): A writhing, amorphous mass of demon-possessed pig meat from a rich fuck's experiments putting demons in pigs that was discarded but mutated into increasingly-hideous and deadly forms. It's a beast with a pig's head, multiple eyes, a spine jutting out from its back, and a body composed of a single large tentacle. Sometimes. Sometimes it's one, none, or all of those things. The main form of attack from its rear end involves firing a Blight-dripping tentacle from what remains of a hog's backside. It also has a toothy mouth on the end, just in case that wasn't disturbing enough. Every last one of its parts has at least two mouths on or in it, giving it over half a dozen mouths at any one point--and those are just the visible ones. The Ancestor--the aforementioned rich fuck, who dabbled all sorts of unspeakably terrible stuff in pursuit of eldritch knowledge--thinks this thing is more horrible than he describe.

The Harvest Child (Darkest Dungeon 2): The Foetor was once a prosperous farmland in which peasants lived a simple life as they tended to their crops and herds. However, it was overrun by masses of putrescent flesh, covering the crops and houses in fleshy tendrils. Its inhabitants were all corrupted and mutated into Plague Eaters, covered in cancerous growth and filled with an unending appetite: they turned upon themselves to sate their hunger once their larders were empty and their animals gone. The Plague Eaters all have too many mouths, they gain buffs from eating corpses in battle, and they'll eat fellow enemies alive. The lair boss of this area, The Harvest Child, is a giant baby stuffed into a cornucopia with tentacles; its description is "Born to a corpulent, half-eaten mother, the child is a ravenous avatar of degeneracy!" It surrounds itself with rotting meat which tempts your heroes to take a bite if they do not resist the allure, giving said hero a minor stress heal and causing their maximum health to decrease for the remainder of the fight. When it gets close, it attacks the party with "Maws of Life"; when it's in the back, it inflicts Blight with "Sapid Drippings".

The Kraang (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles): They conquer worlds by spreading Meat Moss over them, which twists organic life and technology alike into weapons under their control. After being freed from a prison dimension (where it's implied the survivors cannibalized the others to survive), they inflict monstrous transformations on the Foot Clan and start spreading their nasty flesh all over NYC. When they assimilate their victims, their flesh grows all over and consumes them, reaching underneath into their body and morphing their physiology into something alien, including eyes and mouths where those don't belong. This is shown off with Raph, who is found in a cocoon and comes out possessed with discolored eyes and an arm covered in spiky, meaty growths. Their Fleshness extends to their spaceship, The Technodrome, which is made entirely of bio-organic material; in order to take control of it, Donnie has to let the ship's tendrils go into his soft shell and basically get absorbed into the ship in a viscerally disgusting scene. Another Kraang brought Empyrean--a mutagenic liquid that is the source of all the mutants in the ROTTMNT continuity--to Earth.

Also Six and the Chefs from Little Nightmares, but I want to talk abt them in my Lady propaganda.

.

[suppenzeit]

Quick rundown of my StEx OCs, just to have them all in the same place! (and because i dont have images of all of them ooops)

Rosario | Freight engine | He/Him | a pink thing (ref sheet)

Loves his job but wishes there were more engines like him. More femme than an average freight engine, but would also build Ikea furniture for fun if he could. Chatterbox.

Sploinko | FRED (Flashing Rear-End Device) | He/Him | (ref sheet)

Awful and horrible little man!!

Ferruccio | Engine of Frecciarossa 1000 | He/They | (toyhou.se page)

A really mean greyhound dog.

Alix | Luxury Coach of Frecciarossa 1000 | She/He/They | (toyhou.se page)

Only a little bit nicer than Ferruccio. But only a little bit.

Gian | Bistro Car of Frecciarossa 1000 | He/Him | (toyhou.se page)

The Meowth of the group if Team Rocket was a throuple and they were all trains.

Joux | SBB RE 4/4 IV | He/Him | autism creature | gotta finish his ref

Kind and gentle passenger engine. Gets nervous easily. Loves to look at clocks. (my baldest oc!)

Haven the Hi-Level | Hi-Level coach | They/He/She | a doodle!

Slightly off-putting but still very social and friendly coach. Would probably give a gemstone as a gift to someone.

Chesley | A Functional Chessie M-1 | He/Him | still gotta draw a good image of him aaaa

Tall nervous wreck of a man. Like if a horse was a train! Also a hopeless romantic. I rambled a bit about him.

Roscoe | Bobber Caboose | He/They | small because he is tiny (toyhou.se page)

Little rascal :) I love him I have him in real life too! He sits on my keyboard!

Other OCs

CV the Caboose (horrible.), Thorne the Electric Engine (Elektras parent), Schofield the Skeleton Car, Toole the Tool Car, Veeti the VR Locomotive

[blockgeni]

On a laptop or smartphone, artificial intelligence can create an autonomous robot in less than 30 seconds. It's not need to panic just yet about anyone being able to build a Terminator while they're standing in line for the bus, according to a recent study, because the robots are merely straightforward machines that move in straight lines without doing more complicated duties. (Interestingly, though, they never seem to acquire a configuration that involves wriggling, moving like an inch worm, or slithering.) But with more effort, the approach might democratise robot creation, claims Sam Kriegman, a computer scientist and engineer at Northwestern University and the study's lead author. According to Kriegman, it truly restricts the variety of the problems being posed when only big businesses, governments, and big academic institutions have sufficient computer power [to create with artificial intelligence]. What's really fascinating is making these tools more accessible. Design may appear to be the logical next step given that AI can currently drive vehicles and write essays. According to Columbia University roboticist Hod Lipson, who was not engaged in the research, it is difficult to develop an algorithm that can successfully construct a real-world product. The latest study, according to Lipson, is a huge step forward, but there are still a lot of questions. The technique builds robots that are capable of a particular task—in this example, forward locomotion—using a simulation of evolution. Before, evolving robots required generating random variations, testing them, improving the top performers with fresh variations, then testing those versions once more. According to Kriegman, that calls for a lot of computing power. As an alternative, he and his coworkers used a technique called gradient descent, which is more akin to directed evolution. It varies from random evolution in that the algorithm can evaluate how well a certain body plan will perform in comparison to the ideal. The process begins with a randomly generated body design for the robot. The AI can focus on the routes that have the best chance of success for each iteration. We gave the [algorithm] a way to determine if a mutation would be beneficial or detrimental, according to Kriegman. The researchers created their robots using random shapes in their computer simulations, gave the AI the task of creating terrestrial locomotion, and then let the nascent robots loose in a simulated world to evolve. Reaching the ideal state just required ten simulations and a few seconds. According to research published on October 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, the robots were able to start moving from their initial, immobile body plans at speeds of up to 0.5 body length per second, or roughly half the speed at which people walk. The study also discovered that the robots consistently evolved legs and began walking. Lipson thinks it was impressive that the AI could develop something practical from a random form after only a few repetitions. By 3-D printing a mold of their best-performing robot's design and filling it with silicone, the researchers created examples of the robot to test whether the simulations were effective in real-world situations. To simulate muscles flexing and expanding, they pushed air into tiny gaps in the form. Each of the resulting robots was approximately the size of a bar of soap, and they moved like clumsy tiny cartoon figures. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="720"] An AI designed this little walking robot. Credit: Northwestern University[/caption] Because AI-simulated robots don't often transition into the actual world, Kriegman adds, they were really excited about it just moving at all and moving in the right direction. N. Katherine Hayles, a research professor at the University of California, Los Angeles and a professor emerita at Duke University, claims that despite the robots' simplicity and limited functionality, the research represents a step towards more sophisticated robot design.

How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, published by the University of Chicago Press in 1999, is another book by this author. It would be powerful to combine the brains and bodies, she argues, because the gradient descent method is already well-established in the building of artificial neural networks, sometimes known as neural nets—AI approaches that are inspired by the human brain. According to Hayles, the real innovation in this area will occur when you combine an evolvable body with gradient descent methods to develop neural nets. Then, as with biological beings, the two may coevolve. According to Lipson, AI that is capable of inventing new products might free humans from a number of nagging issues, such as designing the next-generation batteries that could slow down climate change and discovering new antibiotics and drugs for diseases that now have no known cures. These simple substantial robots are a step in that direction, he claims. All bets are off, according to Lipson, if we can create algorithms that can create things for us. There will be a tremendous upsurge for us. Source link

[dertaglichedan]

This date in Great Northern Railway History- June 10th, 1929:

The Empire Builder is inaugurated into service. 

Six new consists of luxurious, heavyweight equipment began service as Great Northern's premier passenger train, the Empire Builder.  Honoring GN's founder, James J. Hill (the Empire Builder himself) these Chicago to Seattle trains operated on a 63 hour schedule westbound (Train #1) and 61 hour, 15 minute schedule eastbound (Train #2).

The train took advantage of significant route improvements in the Cascade Mountains. These included the new 7.8 mile long Cascade Tunnel and the Chumstick Valley line change.

Motive power was either a P2 class 4-8-2 or S2 class 4-8-4 steam locomotive. Between Skykomish and Wenatchee, electrics handled the consist. These trains were the last word in comfort, amenities and speed for their day. Punctuating the train was the last car, an 89' buffet-lounge-solarium-observation with a sun room replacing the traditional open platform.

The Empire Builder ran between the Pacific Northwest and St. Paul on the Great Northern and on the Burlington Route between St. Paul and Chicago.

Then, as now, the train split at Spokane with one section going to Seattle and one to Portland.

***Riding this to the Twin Cities to visit our Grandparents was one of the best times of my life. So glad I was able to experience it. I still have a tiny liquor bottle from the Ranch Car. The Dome car, The Dining car (with real silver) and the Ranch Car (club car) with Texas long horns as seat backs.

[handc-lp]

Evaluation

Media and techniques

Evaluative section on the media and techniques that were used and explored in your project. What did you learn? How did research help this? How did these techniques meet your proposal?

I used mostly blender for everything from the map to the torch you hold in game i did use sketch fabe for my skeleton and for the crates around the map, i do believe the outcome was successful and the models from sketchfab did add a bit more to my map but i don't think now, that i should of had them as they dont have the same type of loy quality texture as the main map but other than that blender and unreal were the only two i used, i required models in specific ones for certain parts of my game and to fit, i also used youtube videos to help with changing over my games movement to locomotion

Purpose / theme / concept

Evaluative section: the thought processes and the way you solved problems. The creative journey and the decisions you made to meet the context and theme of your project. What did you need to change or explore to make sure you hit the themes of your proposal? Did you need to alter your idea or direction / outcome?

The concept was a bunker type facility with a dark background inspired by the creepypasta [russian sleep experiment], in the beginning there was a certain theme i wanted to go with which was the horror aspect of science gone wrong but after the halfway point i changed it a tiny bit but still falls under the original track, this was a leading factor for the game as the horrific nature of the testing was amazing how the concept was meant to work was your in the lab and you have to escape but you get chased by a ghostly figure but throughout the game play and testing i decided to cut that as the limitations of vr and optimization was pain, by cutting objects i wanted it did allow me to focus on the map a bit more and genuinely if i could of i would of added most of the cut object in turn i think it did allow me to make a better product of the map due to it

Outcome

Evaluative section on the final product. Did you meet your expectations? Does your outcome fulfil the project that you set and meet your FMP brief?

The project did not meet my expectations as if i had maybe more time i could of added a better map path with more item and a ghostly figure chasing you or if i did not do a vr game i would have been able to add particles such as wires still live on screen jumpscares and more, i believe it more than fills my FMP brief and i hope it does. I think what went well with this project is that i managed mainly to get a working game done as it was the first real test of vr game building i also think i got the coding side of this done very nicely

Conclusion

Evaluative section on the processes of evaluation, feedback and peer assessment. On reflection how you could have improved your project and what could you have done to support the improvements needed. What have you learnt and what do you need to make sure you do next time to improve your project?

In conclusion i wish i was able to add a lot more than i did maybe if i used my time here as well as at home this game would be better but with the limitations of what i did even through the moving where you can only move forward or backwards not left or right is good but annoying, if i did have more time i think i would have changed it to a first person game and not vr as with fp games there less hassle trying to optimise. I have learnt alot about the vr portion with unreal like with the coding of locomotion to the coding of just a train that can move faster or slower depending how far next time if i was given another chance i would of added more grabbable objects and more rooms to explore 

[magicalcelestialgem]

Crossover Headcanons Part 1

Just thought to put some headcanons about crossovers between… literally my fandoms and original content. I wanted to start with ADJ.

ADJ Crossovers (feat. Solaritia)

World of Cars (Glowing Eyes AU)

Solaritia is in the World of Cars, a world of living vehicles, planes, locomotives, boats, anything that got windows, wheels, or is straight up for transportation. What does she do? Well, what she usually does in a mortal world and as a dragon. Look for food, roll in sand or mud, or fly around. Sadly, poor goddess does not find any meat. She does eat tree leaves and grass though.

Solaritia, knowing she is in a dragonless world, she will go into her tiny spirit form and act like a cryptid of legend. She only goes into her true form when she is alone. This holds up for a while, but the world isn’t perfect and it was not long until at least one of the world inhabitants spot her in her full glory.

You can imagine who saw her. Could be a racer from Cars movies or a character from Planes movies. Once spotted, Solaritia will freeze like a deer in the headlights. But if they mean no harm, she will continue on about her day and let them watch her as long as they don’t do anything. But if they do mean harm, she will fly away and be forced to breathe her sun element (which is more powerful and hotter than normal light) when necessary before disappearing into her tiny spirit form.

Solaritia soon made the news as the mysterious alien sun dragon. Many cars and planes travel far to find and see her. Many even tried to capture her. Many had questions on who and what she is, why she is like this, etc. and some zoologists wanted to interact with her as they saw that Solaritia was a very intelligent creature, maybe even as intelligent as they are. Soon, she got the name, “Sunny.”

Solaritia does also tend to get curious around those who did not harm her. She approaches, calmly, and the ones whom she gets close to feel the gentle, warm bursts of air coming from her nostrils. She’s sniffing them. But then she turns arounds and leaves. Some take pictures of her to remember forever as they felt like she was a gentle creature and must be left alone. She even approaches boats, including Navy boats, when she is out flying at sea, but out of caution, as she does not like to bother anyone if they seem busy. Many managed to take pictures when she was spotted before she turned and flew away, never to be seen again. One time, she approached the Dwight D. Flysenhower, remaining about fifty feet away, and many stopped to stare at her. Most, like Bravo and Echo, were not sure what her intentions were and Solaritia feels a magical presence there. She is able to see that they mean no harm, but can tell that they were soldiers, letting her know that they will attack if she dares to do so. For some time, about thirty minutes, Solaritia just flew like a seagull does around a ferry and then she changed her direction and flew away into the horizon. Let’s just say that everyone who witnessed her can never forget that moment.

But then, one day, Solaritia disappeared. Like, really disappeared, without a trace. Many feared that she was killed, many were happy she was gone. Investigations went out to find her body, but it was nowhere to be seen. It was like she was wiped out of existence. Unknown to them, Solaritia was brought back her homeland. If there is one thing Solaritia remembers from that world, it’s everything. It was nice to get to know a world beyond her own.

Inspired by those animals, especially large cetaceans, who approached humans and did not do harm to a tiny living being. I’ve imagined Solaritia to be the friendly, approachable kind as she is curious and friendly, but very considerate and cautious as she knows that they can mean harm. Anyone who got approached by her can never forget the moment that a wild, intelligent beast has gotten close to them, but still did not mean harm. It is a magical moment I wish to experience in real life, to be honest. Seeing a majestic animal like a whale approach and do no harm.

[paarke]

The owner of the hotel had laughed in his face when he promised he was going to come back one day and take the whole island for himself. He started to get nervous when news stories started to break around the world about a bodybuilder that had got too big to fit into his house. He told the media that being too big for the gym would be no barrier to his training, and if anything, he was planning on stepping it up a few gears. He was looking forward to some epic pumps, and said he couldn’t wait until the awesome road map veins that covered his body were real size, like highways of blood and testosterone pumping around his body. He warned his neighbours they were going to have to make sacrifices and if he needed the space to train, whatever was on the land would have to go. Houses, schools, hospitals, he’d happily flatten whatever he needed to. It wasn’t long before more and more of his neighbourhood looked like a war zone, and was littered with trucks, locomotives, anything he could make into a weight. He took over more and more of the city, his growth defying the laws of nature. Seeing him now it hardly seemed possible that everyone really believed he was done growing when those images of him went viral, easily squatting with a couple of aircraft carriers that he’d mashed together, standing in the middle of the city while skyscrapers crumbled and collapsed all around him, totally oblivious to all the carnage, the huge fires and explosions he was causing. At least now, he was so big, what possible use could he have for a tiny island way out in the ocean? Thinking he was safe in his hotel, the owner knew it was all over when he could see the muscled colossus approaching even when he was way beyond where the horizon should be. His gargantuan quads never even came close to getting wet and powered him through the deep ocean as if it wasn’t there. The last thing he heard was the vast booming voice of the huge muscleman as he told no one in particular that if he wasn’t going to get to enjoy his island, he’d make sure no one else could either.

[mctreeleth]

A couple of years ago for my birthday my parents decided they would pay for us to go on The Overland, which is the train between Adelaide and Melbourne - they had gotten to do part of it for practical, "needing to get somewhere without a car" reasons, but I had missed out, which is deeply unfair because I love trains. Just, so much. 

Trains delight me in the same way that an old mechanical sewing machine does, but I also love them in a more romanticised sense as well - as someone whose brain is always going every which way, with no real ultimate destination, who struggles with follow-through and maintaining momentum, trains are, frankly, aspirational. To me a train is like a cool older cousin who has their shit together, a wild animal you are sometimes lucky enough to spot out in nature, an amazing piece of engineering, and a monument to the amazing power of a society working together to make infrastructure, all rolled into one big machine that even non-sentimental people are sometimes willing to concede might just be the kind of technology to have a soul. I love trains.

So naturally I was pretty bummed when shortly after, covid hit and the borders closed, stopping the passenger train from running. Then came a brief period when the service looked like it would never restart, before the state governments stepped in with additional funding to keep the service going. Finally, the borders were open, we were all triple vaxxed, and me, Mum, Dad and my other train-loving sister were free at the same time to do Adelaide-Melbourne on the Sunday and Melbourne-Adelaide on the Monday.

Then the service got cancelled and replaced with a bus route. Then that happened again the following week. We still don't know if it was a case of not enough seats being occupied to make the trip economically viable for the company, or if something else was going on, but finally, we had confirmation; the train was going to be doing that trip, we were going to be on it.

We got to the station at the ungodly time of 6.45am for a 7.45 departure, and the lady at the counter made the usual casual conversation of "what are you travelling for?" type questions as she checked us in, and when Mum told her that she (pointing to me, basically vibrating with excitement) just really loves trains so we paid for the trip for her birthday, we’re coming back again tomorrow, the lady was like, oh yes, we get families doing that, and looked over at another family; mum, dad, visibly excited assumedly-also-autistic adult son seated in the terminal. They also went out to watch the locomotive being attached to the carriages, but they had booked in the premium carriages so we didn't see them except for again the next morning, as they also boarded back to Adelaide, the actual destination little more than a dull, 12 hour gap in the joyous experience that is getting to be on a train. 

I wonder if he was also the only one of his group not to have a nap on the journey. Being on a train is too interesting to sleep through, even if the majority of the journey is just wheat paddocks. Still, that is enough for my family to invent a wild conspiracy in the central highlands of Victoria regarding stolen windmill blades, which I am sure absolutely baffled the other people sitting nearby.

Travelling through the Adelaide Hills was definitely my favourite part, but there was also a few hours travelling alongside the highway that I drive to go back home, a drive I always spend hoping to see a train. I never do it at the same time as The Overland, but about a third of my drives I get to see the cargo train at some point. I hope all the drivers we passed were as excited to see us as I would have been.

We pointed out broken down classic car bodies and old boats in back yards that my sister and dad could buy and restore as we passed through tiny towns, even going so far as to drop some pins on google maps at ones they were thinking about maybe making a roadtrip to go and make an offer on. 

And we arrived in Melbourne, checked into our hotel, went to the casino for dinner, Mum and Dad played the pokies for half an hour while my sister and I found a bar and skulled two beers each, and then spent another half an hour battling fierce indigestion as we tried to all find each other to go back to the hotel. And then we got up very early the next morning, sat on the other side of the train, and went the other way. 

My family napped for a bit, Dad spent an hour eagle-eyed back on the other side looking for a boat in a paddock that Mum and I had spotted the day before, it rained a bit as we went through the hills again, we absolutely smoked a metro train that was going boring metro-train speeds though Lynton, and arrived 5 minutes early, which would have been a bummer for me but for the fact that I was still rising high on the thrill of going so much faster than that other train.

Dad thinks we should just do the whole of the east coast little by little, taking cheap flights when they come up to do the Melbourne-Sydney, Sydney-Brisbane, and Brisbane-Far North Queensland journeys over the next couple of years. I am very keen.

[cafeacademia]

𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐬

✶ 𝐁𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐲 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 ✶

Fluffmas day 3

Summary: While living in Europe, you and Bucky travel to a nearby Christmas Market.

Warnings: none

Word count: 910

Fluffmas masterlist

A/N: This is entirely based on the Christmas markets I have in my part of France, We have a lot of German influence, so that's what I've based it on, rather than a British one or one in Paris. Enjoy!

You smiled as your gaze wandered over the beautiful artisanal decorations that decorated the stall you were looking at. Bucky had almost fallen when you had stopped short in the middle of the market to look at the pretty wooden things, though now he watched with a fondness in his eyes as you eyed the sweet tiny houses and handmade little scenes the person inside the stall had created.

“Want anything, doll?” Bucky finally asked after a moment of silence, watching as your eyes landed on a cute little wooden house model, complete with two people and a dog, which resembled you and Bucky in a rather uncanny way.

You didn’t even have to answer, though you drew in your breath to speak, but Bucky was already asking the man in the stall for the house you’d had your eyes on.

It was near Christmas and France was deep in snow, the Christmas markets lighting the darkening days and bringing an exciting moment of joy to the season.

There was something quite comforting about the welcome sight of the wooden stalls all dressed up in the seller’s wares and little decorations, lit up with pretty Christmas lights and adorned with little garlands and ornaments.

The smells were delightful too, the wonderful, wintery smell of tartiflette or the warming sight of raclette made you want to buy some and enjoy the warmth of the wintery dishes in the snow.

“Here we are, darlin.” Bucky grinned, handing you the paper bag the seller had handed Bucky after he had paid and you took it from him with a grateful little smile on your lips.

“Thank you Buck. We should go to the decoration hall next.” You said, pointing over to a wooden building, filled to the brim with pretty decorations and gifts perfect for Christmas.

“As you wish, doll.”

And he took you by the hand, leading you slowly towards the building and watching as your eyes lit up at the sight of all of the pretty things inside.

The lights cast a warming glow and Bucky loved the way it highlighted your look of pure enjoyment.

“We should get something for Sam here.” You told Bucky.

He gave you an agreeing nod, but said nothing more, continuing to take enjoyment in watching you look at everything in awe.

You eyes trailed over the intricate train sets, watching as the little locomotive traveled around the tracks and passed through the tunnel a few times, until your gaze moved over to the forest animal display.

Bucky kept a little distance, noticing the way your eyes had lit up at the sight of a sweet cuddly looking teddy bear and he simply could not resist spoiling you. So he picked the bear up without you noticing and hoped he could be sneaky enough to buy it for you without you noticing.

It was only when you got outside that you noticed that Bucky was not next to you and you saw him wander out a moment later, with the little bear in his arms and a big grin on his lips, seeing the way you utterly melted at his sweet gesture.

“Here you go, darlin. I knew you’d love him.” Bucky smiled.

“I do, but you shouldn’t have.” You looked up at him as he approached, handing you the bear and watching as you took him into your arms and squished the bear close to your chest.

“Thank you.”

So with your bear in one hand, pressed against your chest and Bucky’s hand in your other, you found the ice sculpture trail and wandered between them all, pointing out the characters you recognised and remarking on the perfect likeness.

“They look incredible.” You gasped, looking over at the perfectly carved ice display of Harry Potter characters.

It was magical, seeing so many characters in ice, carved intricately with such fine detail they almost looked real.

“Hot chocolate?” Bucky asked as you left the ice sculpture building and back out into the Christmas market.

“Yes please.” You nodded, following your boyfriend towards the nearest stall that was serving handmade hot drinks.

Bucky ordered himself a hot cider, while you asked for a hot chocolate, asking if you could keep the mugs instead of taking them back and having your deposit returned.

And as the evening drew in and the lights glowed softly in the twilight, the two of you with bags of shopping and a new stuffie friend, you took in the last of the late afternoon snow covered Christmas market before it became too dark to see the white of the snow so perfectly.

Bucky put his arm around you as you stood and watched some performers playing Christmas music, the warmth of him next to you making you feel comforted and safe as you enjoyed the moment.

Smiling up at him, you let out a soft giggle as he leaned down to capture you in a gentle, slow kiss, one that took your breath away as his grip on you tightened a little, arms circling your waist to pull you closer, his chest warm and comforting to lean into.

“Wanna go and get dinner, baby?” Bucky asked softly against your lips as he pulled away.

“That sounds nice. Let’s have something local and warm up.” You nodded, gently taking his hand in your own.

“Alright, and then we’ll have one last walk around to see the lights and then head home. I’ll drive.”

@megantje123 @magicchai @dracosathenaeum @fuckingjimin

[trainsinanime]

In the past few weeks I’ve built a model railroad signal for garden railways with a custom DCC decdoder. Here’s what it looks like:

I’ve heard from a number of people that they thought this was interesting, but they didn’t really understand what I was doing. So today I’ll try to explain the core of it all, this circuit board:

And here’s the associated circuit diagram:

I’ll try to explain why this is the way it is and what it does.

(This whole explanation is aimed at people who have never done anything with electronics before. If that’s not you, then this may be a bit boring. Also, I didn’t come up with any of the parts of this. Most of this is based on things I learned by reading OpenDCC and Mikrocontroller.net. I’m sure I still made a lot of mistakes, though, and they’re definitely all mine and not the fault of anyone on these sites.)

The goal

First let’s talk about requirements. My goal was to build an american signal type “Searchlight”. Such a signal has between one and three lamps. Thanks to a clever electromechanic design that moves different color filters around, each lamp can show different colors - up to three from a total selection of four.

Replicating this system for a model railroad is not practical. I need something else. Having multiple colored LEDs next to each other wouldn’t work; they’re too big and I want it to all look like one light source. There are LEDs that contain red, blue and green in one housing, but that would require a lot of wires quickly that all have to be put in the mast. The solution is this:

This is an “adressable” LED, better known under the name “Neopixel” used by a large american online store. There are many variations from different manufacturers. The key thing is that each LED has a tiny control circuit built right in. It takes four wires: Plus five volts, minus, data in and data out. If you have more than one, you can connect the data out of the first directly to the data in of the second and so on. Connect the plus and minus as well, and you can control almost unlimited amounts of LEDs with just three wires.

The data line has a special protocol that you need to generate. Basically you need to switch it from 0 to 5 to 0 volts again and again at a certain rate; the time it stays at 5 volts (“high”) determines whether you’re sending a 0 or a 1. From these bits you form bytes, which tell each LED what specific color value to send.

Due to this dataformat, you definitely need some electronic circuit controlling the signal, and the first requirements for this are:

Provide five volts DC power

Generate the data for the LEDs in the correct format

The Input

There are a lot of options for designing the input side of things. In my case, I’m assuming the signal is electrically connected to the rails of a model railroad that is controlled digitally. With digital command control (DCC), the voltage at the rails has a constant value of about 15 to 25 volts, larger for larger scales. This voltage constantly flips polarity; first plus is on the left rail, then it goes to the right rail (and minus vice versa), and then back. It’s like AC in normal wall outlets, but with very abrupt changes instead of a smooth sine wave.

This voltage has two tasks. First it supplies the locomotives with power, but it also transmits information. If one of these change-and-back sequences is long, it transmits a “0”; if it’s short, it transmits a “1”. These bits together then form the bytes that form the messages that say things like, “Locomotive three run at speed step 64” or “switch 10 switch to direction left”.

This decoder uses both features. The digital voltage provides both the data and the power. For a locomotive, that is required since the only conductors you have are the rails. This is a stationary decoder, so I could have designed it so that it only uses digital commands, and gets the power from an external power supply. However, I wanted to use the least amount of cables, so I’m using the simple version.

With that, the requirements are fixed. The circuit has to:

Turn the digital power (15-25 Volts, AC-ish) into 5 Volts DC

Read and understand the digital data signal (decode it, hence the name “decoder”) and calculate the colors for the LEDs.

Computation

This calculation is the real key here. The digital signal has a completely different fromat than what the LEDs expect. It’s slower, but also has completely different meaning. At best it transmits “set switch or signal 10 to state 0”. Which color values are associated with that, let alone any blending to make it look nice, are things the signal has to decide for itself. There is no way to build a simple stupid adapter here; I need a complete computer.

Luckily, you can get those for cheap and in really tiny.

The ATtiny85 costs about 1€ depending on how many you order, and it’s smaller than one cent coin (I think in basically any currency), but from a technical point of view, it is essentially a full computer. It has all the important parts anyway. There is a CPU that can run at (depending on the version) up to 20 MHz; half a kilobyte of RAM and eight kilobyte of internal storage for the program. Multiple programs is a bit of a challenge. If you know Arduinos, the ATtiny85 is related to the ATmega328p in the Arduino Uno and Nano. Far less powerful, but cheaper and significantly smaller.

What it lacks are all the surroundings like keyboard and screen for input and output. The chip is designed for applications where this isn’t needed, or at least only minimal things. The software that you write can assign each pin (okay, five out of eight) freely for different tasks: The pin can work as an input, telling the software whether there’s a low or high level of voltage at it (meaning 0 or 5 Volts), or it can work as an output and write high or low values, meaning setting the pin explicitly to 0 or 5 Volts.

There are other options for the Pins as well; among other things it can also read analog voltages and generate them to some extent. But for this task I only need the simple digital high-low inputs and outputs.

These types of chips, known as microcontrollers, exist in thousands of variations by different manufacturers with very different performance characteristics. They are the key part of basically everything that’s digitally controlled these days. Washing machines, everything that plugs into a computer including every single Apple lightning cable, TVs, TV remotes, amazing amounts of parts in cars and so on are all the realm of microcontrollers. The ATtiny85 is, as the name implies, very much at the low end of the scale (though there are smaller ones), and even here, it is a bit out of date. But it is very easy to program and very forgiving of mistakes, which makes it great in hobby situations.

To run, this chip needs around 3-5 Volts DC (some versions like the one here can also run on a bit less) and exactly one capacitor. I’m already generating 5 Volts DC for the LEDs anyway, so this chip will get them as well. That means for all the calculation, only two pieces of hardware are required.

There is some more associated hardware, though, for getting the program (which I’ve written myself) on the chip. For that you need a programmer, a device that you can buy for some money, or make yourself astonishingly easily from an Arduino. It needs to be connected with six wires to the chip. The standard for this is with a six-pin plug, which I’ve thus included here as well. There are standard six-wire cables for this.

You could connect the cables differently, for example with some sort of spring-loaded contacts on some programming circuit board you’d have to build for that, or in the worst case, just temporarily solder the cables in there. But the plug version is both simple and convenient, with the only downside that it makes the circuit a bit more pointy.

(Due to the Tumblr image limit, the next part will have to be in a reblog)