Show HN: What would mechanical programming look like?(mockmechanics.com)

719 pointsby felipereigosahá 6 anos149 comments

Show HN: What would mechanical programming look like?

https://mockmechanics.com/

149 comments

Hey guys, I've been working on this Clojure project for a while now, honestly I'm not even entirely sure what it is, a game? a game engine? a 3d editor? a visual programming language? Anyway, it's a system to create mechanical contraptions and interact with them. I built a few test machines and you can see them in the first video I posted on my channel [1]. For instance you can create a fully functional piano in 5 minutes and play it, the keys move, it plays the sounds as you would expect. And this system turned out surprisingly powerful, to build these machines it often does not require any coding which was kind of surprising. I created this tetris game in half an hour [2]. It's not perfect but it is functional and again it required only a tiny snippet of code to coordinate the different submachines and even that might be unnecessary. The "programs" i.e. the machines created also interact in a way that you usually only see with command line programs. You can create a machine then someone else can use that machine as a part for a more powerful machine, for instance that lever that turns the tetris game on and off doesn't "come standard" with the system, I build it separately then imported it. Using the program is a lot like programming, thinking logically, coming up with solutions to problems, fixing bugs, but it's entirely visual so you can use your physical intuition to figure things out, maybe that's why it's possible to do things so fast. Anyway I was hoping some of you would give it a try and give me some feedback. I need people to see what they can build with it, I don't even know what's possible at this point. And if you want to give it a go and get stuck, feel free to contact me with any questions.

[1] MockMechanics Introduction Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrwxbQj5mj0&t=193s

[2] Tetris Machine Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSPm1xxQ-qY

[3] https://mockmechanics.com/

JoshTripletthá 6 anos

This looks amazing. Several times in the last couple of decades, as graphics and physics engines have evolved, I've built little prototypes whose main goal was "this should work using real physics and mechanics", and then built things like marble machines. Games like Crayon Physics always felt so limiting; they were only about things bouncing off each other. I'd like gears that turn and mesh, light that diffracts, motors that naturally work in reverse as generators, and the ability to build machines that use more than one of those effects without any special-casing.

I look forward to playing with this, and extending it!

taneqhá 6 anos

I think what you're looking for is a "shed". It's a space in the real world where all the usual physics apply and you can make things using them. ;)

All jokes aside, this sandbox looks awesome and I want to play with it more. :)

ethbr0há 6 anos

Most importantly, the amount of things in your shed increases exponentially with respect to time.

In the blink of an eye, you'll have old lawnmower blades (for when I start forging), a full shelf of two stroke engines (shame to throw them away, when they almost run), at least 3 power tools that have been used a total of once (but they were on sale), a "random fasteners" drawer, and an entire woodworking area. *

* Woodworking area may only exist in your mind if you're younger than 50.

magnusmundushá 6 anos

> Woodworking area may only exist in your mind if you're younger than 50

Why is that?

yetihehehá 6 anos

I believe that comment was to be written as "If you are younger than 50, woodworking area could be still in plans. If you are older, you definitaly already have woodworking area".

VBprogrammerhá 6 anos

My tip for anyone in that position is to start buying stuff, I bought the biggest portable table saw (in retrospect, not the best approach) I could find and progressed from there. At the time I lived in a flat and worked on a balcony.

KineticLensmanhá 6 anos

My first woodworking project was to make a wooden work bench on which I could do subsequent woodworking. The bench is still firm, solid and in use 15 years later.

VBprogrammerhá 6 anos

My first project was a stand for the table saw. Working on the floor was a pain!

a1369209993há 6 anos

> a "shed". It's a space in the real world where all the usual physics apply and you can make things using them.

That sounds interesting; do you have a download link?

athenothá 6 anos

There are a few download links but it seems they all return HTTP status code 402.