Saturday, February 25, 2012

Earthquake Protection with the Coddler

Big Brain's Propeller Array Coddler
PROTECTING THE BIG BRAIN AGAINST EARTHQUAKES WITH THE CODDLER
After experiencing its first earthquake, steps were taken to protect the Big Brain against future quakes.

1) Lower Center of Gravity
2) Initiate the Coddler

The primary change is in the Big Brain's "Tower," a structure that holds the Propeller Arrays in the Left Brain config and initiates the new Coddling. The Brain Coddler is a perforated adapted shelf which is nearly weightless. Coddlers handle displacements during an earthquake along the XY and Z axes. Each Coddler cups one High Density (HDB) breadboard containing up to 216 Cog processors. The HDBs are free to do minimal sliding around during an earthquake and absorb some kinetic forces of vibrating and shaking. The structure was lowered to create a center of gravity closer to the the floor and multiple bases coddle each Propeller Array (Propeller Arrays are made up of more than one HDB). Large solderless breadboards are notoriously difficult to handle and mount, remain heavy, and take up considerable lateral space. The solution treats each large size board with an individual mounting solution. The Propeller arrays are now coddled inside a series of "towering bases." The mounting cup is 6 cm deep, a good mounting depth for large boards. Currently, the Left Brain is 194 cm (6.4-feet high) with a 66 cm removable tall peak. The combined Big Brain structure is only 4 cm from the Lab ceiling. The Large Tower and Peak does not include the EXOskeleton. The Right Brain, with 726 processors, has no earthquake modification as it's base mounting is a steel platform. These changes have now enabled the Big Brain to survive a quake of 6.1 magnitude.

Definitions
Coddler - a perforated shelf structure with depth designed to cup and coddle high density breadboards HDBs thereby increasing the protection level during an earthquake
Coddling - the process of holding and protecting an electronic circuit board, such as a solderless breadboard, during an earthquake
Peak - A top extension consisting of a number of connected Coddlers
HDB - High density breadboard, a breadboard consisting of up to 27 Propeller chips
Config - Configuration, the design and setup of HW and SW

First Earthquake
Second Earthquake
Earthquake Protection