Turing Tumble

Turing Tumble is a game and demonstration of logic gates via mechanical computer. Named after Alan Turing, the game itself is advertised as Turing complete, and can (abstractly) duplicate the processes of any computer whatsoever if the game field were sufficiently large.[1] It is also PSPACE complete by the circuit value problem,[2][3] and in its method of operation has implications for nanotechnology.[4]

Although it resembles a pachinko machine in its aesthetic use of gravity-fed metal balls, it is primarily a teaching device in the fundamentals of logic-cum-computer programming, and as such is an example of gamification. The framing device in the included comic book features an astronaut who must solve fifty increasingly difficult logic problems which illustrate the fundamentals of computer programming. The impetus of the puzzle itself was the frustration of the programmer and chemistry professor Paul Boswell (along with his wife, Alyssa née Boswell, a DIY maker), then at the University of Minnesota, at the lack of computing prowess of other scientists which was necessary for their own projects; he was already well known for programming complex games for Texas Instruments computers. They were also inspired by Digi-Comp II, a precursor from the '60s.[5]

Construction

A turning tumble machine has the following parts:

  • Ball drops. The standard version uses two of different colors. A turnstile at the end of the board triggers the release of a new ball.
  • Ramps and crossovers. The crossover let balls to cross to the other side (right to left and vice versa).
  • Interceptors. This part stops balls from rolling on.
  • Toggle bits. This is a one-bit storage: it changes direction when a ball rolls through, so the next ball goes to the other side.
  • Gear and gearbits. Gearbits are exactly like toggle bits, but they can be connected to gears. The gears allow for linking state changes, and is integral to the extra (abstract) power.

Reception

Critically it has received high praise for its concept and execution,[6] albeit with some caveats (the recommended age being 8+). [7]

The computing game has won the Parents' Choice Gold Award, and won in the category Best Toys of the Year 2018 under the aegis American Specialty Toy Retailing Association. It is also STEMI Approved.

References
  1. Biggs, Joe (May 30, 2017). "The Turing Tumble lets you and your kids build real mechanical computers". TechCrunch. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  2. Matthew, Johnson (April 2019). "Turing Tumble Is P(SPACE)-Complete". Algorithms and Complexity, 11th International Conference, Proceedings: 274–285. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-17402-6_23.
  3. Hoover, H. James (2019-05-26). "Turing Tumble is P-Complete". sites.ualberta.ca.
  4. Tomita, Takahiro (June 20–22, 2018). "Constructing Reversible Logic Elements on Turing Tumble Model" (PDF). Proceedings of Automata 2018: 25–32. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  5. FRAUENFELDER, MARK (2017-04-30). "Cool marble-powered mechanical computer to solve logic problems". BoingBoing. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  6. Hall, Stephen (2018-12-05). "Review: Turing Tumble". Geeks Under Grace. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  7. "Turing Tumble: A Timberdoodle Review". MamaBeanAz. 2019-09-15. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
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