Project 1: Curious Computing

In this unit, we learned about boolean operators and how they can be used to solve logical problems. By working with the fundamental operations of OR, AND, and NOT, we were able to model "knights & knaves" problems framed as determining whether geese were robots or real. We spent time building and filling out truth tables for more complicated boolean expressions, as well as for new boolean operators including XOR, NOR and NAND.

We then saw how single-bit binary addition can be computed using the XOR and AND operators, giving a glimpse into how a computer computes! The chips and processors that you rely on in your computer, phone and almost any other piece of technology all ultimately perform their computations using logic gates (really really fast). Computer scientists have built systems that automatically take code and convert it into boolean operations. 

Each chip is designed differently, but there are some boolean operations that are known to be "complete" -- using only that operation, you can compute the core OR, AND and NOT operations. The NOR operation is one of these complete operators, and we already saw how it can be used to compute OR, AND and NOT. In your final lab of this unit, you will, as a class, attempt to use only NOR gates to build a single-bit adder. This means that you will need to put together a physical "marble" circuit with only NOR gates to compute XOR and (maybe) AND for the carry bit.

Instructions

Be sure to take lots of photos and videos as you move through this project -- you'll want them for your presentation!

1. Bring your laser-cut NOR marble gate to Lab on Mon 10/5.

2. Submit your slide deck and video (URLs and/or files) via Gradescope - Project 1.

3. Post your completed slide deck and video to Ed in the "Project 1: Curious Computing" thread; if you'd rather do this during class, we'll find time during one of the sessions following the deadline.

Resources

• Binderboard (also in the course closet)

• Fimbel Laser Cutting

• • Charlie has already reserved the laser cutters for you:

    • Wednesday 9/30 from 5:00 - 6:30pm

    • Thursday 10/1 from 6:00 - 7:30pm

  • How to reserve time for the 3D printers & Laser Cutters

    • 3D Printer Reservations: https://mtholyoke.libcal.com/reserve/3Dprinter

    • Laser Cutter Reservations: https://mtholyoke.libcal.com/reserve/lasercutter

  • Laser Cutting Resources:

    • Fimbel Laser Cutter Starter Guide

    • Fimbel Adobe Illustrator For Laser Cutting Guide

Create a presentation where you report on this Curious Computing unit. Your presentation should include:

1. A slide deck with highlights (images, videos are great!) of what you learned in this unit and what sparked your curiosity.
   For example, perhaps the formation and computation of the truth tables capturing the goose mysteries are still a mystery in and of themselves, but you find it curious that a truth table can somehow lead to the solution.

2. A 4-6 minute video where you present your slide deck.

Sticking to this timing may be quite challenging, and I encourage you to talk with each other or work with the SAW center to make sure you do not go over 6 minutes.

• You may use AI tool(s) to help build your slide deck.
  You must take ownership for everything in your slide deck. 

  • If you use an AI tool to support the generation and organization of your slides, you must acknowledge and document how you used the tool(s). 

  • For example, you might take your own notes and thoughts and ask Gemini to generate a slide deck -- you should document that this was part of your approach, including the prompt (or a link to the Gemini chat).

  • You can include AI acknowledgement/documentation as a slide at the end of your deck, or you can write it up in a google doc and include a link to that doc in a slide at the end of your deck.

• Your video and oral presentation must be your own.
  You cannot use an AI tool to generate the video content or script for you to read.