There doesn’t appear to be anything supernatural about recent advances in AI. Despite the hype, and despite being impressive, it’s still completely understandable, at some level, by humans. In that sense, it may not seem exactly like the AI of science fiction. Even still, we are not taking the risk of AI completely destroying humanity […]
Zwölf is an open microcontroller platform for simple embedded applications that require long-term data retention and/or long-term functionality. Zwölf modules are available in a versatile package that can be soldered surface mount, through-hole (DIP-12) or used as a removable module with a DIP socket or spring contacts. The modules are also compatible with 6-pin PMOD […]
In order to make our FPGA computers more useful, we are launching a multi-year project to create an open-source SOC and OS named ZEITLOS. Zeitlos is a novel open-source single-user multitasking graphical Operating System developed in tandem with an open-source System-On-a-Chip that will help to transform our FPGA computers into practical tools for running timeless […]
For quite a while now we’ve wanted to set up a forum for our customers to communicate and share ideas with each other. We tried a few different things but nothing felt quite right. We’re excited to announce a new experiment that we hope our community will find useful: Machdyne BBS. While this format isn’t […]
In order to make our products more available and affordable we’ve begun to experiment with outsourcing the assembly of certain PCBs. The majority of our PCB assembly is currently done by hand in Germany. We plan to continue in-house assembly while also giving our customers additional choices for some products. We think this is an […]
One of the goals of Machdyne is to create computers and tools that will be useful long into the future, even, or especially if the future is some sort of computing dystopia, from the human perspective. Survival computing is an extreme form of timeless computing that lets you compute, or interact with computers, when you […]
Deep thinking often requires writing. The writing down of thoughts can be affected by perceived privacy. Thus, the erosion of perceived privacy may reduce the capacity for deep thought. I’ve always been interested in writing. I believe that in order to write interesting things, you can’t censor yourself, you have to write the first thought […]
Machdyne makes open-source FPGA computers. In this post we’ll explain what an FPGA computer is, what they can be used for, and why we’re bothering to make them. An FPGA (field-programmable gate array) is a chip that contains an array of programmable logic blocks. Together, these logic blocks can be configured to act as various […]
We decided earlier this year to temporarily slow down PCB design and production in order to build a pick-and-place machine. Manual PCB assembly can be a tedious, repetitive, time-consuming and sometimes stressful process and we were spending most of our time assembling boards. We determined that at least partially automating the assembly process was the […]
Machdyne began in 2021 as the experimental hardware division of Lone Dynamics Corporation, an American technology company, whose mission is to improve the state of reality for humanity through technology. Since then, Machdyne has produced several open-source general-purpose computers designed to operate and remain useful for decades. Our focus has been on supporting timeless […]
Zeitreise is a minimalist slabtop cyberdeck with a chorded keyboard designed as a test platform and demo for some of our upcoming cyberdeck components: Kaugummi FPGA computer Nickel power supply Akkord Acht chorded keyboard Zeitreise is based on the Kaugummi FPGA computer, which is capable of running Kakao Linux on a RISC-V SOC built with […]
Mozart Motherboard Mozart is the first of our next-generation computers. Mozart is a motherboard that requires a “Sechzig” compute module to operate. Moving to a motherboard + module design was an obvious next step for us. Our computers were getting more complicated and we wanted to support FPGAs from multiple vendors. We also believe that […]
One of our primary motivations for building timeless computers is to create a defense against the unknown future of technology. To preserve what has been proven to be useful and good, and to deliberately go no further. Artificial Intelligence will become increasingly integrated into the operating environment and hardware of modern computers, because most users […]
Overview Timeless (adj.) not affected by the passage of time or changes in fashion We make computers designed for timeless applications. We have previously written about timeless computing in a theoretical way, this post is about using our computers to create a practical environment for timeless applications. While modern computers are very fast and useful […]
Recap Over the past year we’ve been busy designing and building a series of timeless FPGA computer prototypes in small batches. Along the way we’ve also built over a dozen modules and tools. When we talk about “timeless” applications we mean things that people were doing 100 years ago that they will likely still be […]
Overview Computers are getting better but also worse. Faster, but often less responsive. More capable and complex, but less understandable and less secure. Cheaper, but more disposable. In many cases, instead of computers being tools of humanity, we are becoming tools of the computers. We chase the latest technology in order to run the latest […]
