Modelling the CM-2 Connection Machine Using Maya 6.5 on an SGI Tezro

[Irinikus]

Again, I'm going to try to model this machine as accurately as possible with the information available on the internet.

This is the info that I've acquired so far:

I really had to scour the internet to get a picture of the CM-2 processor board, which is the basic building block of one of these little animals, this was the only complete picture I could find anywhere!

So I'll start off by modelling it!

Here's a picture of the chassis from the inside: (Take note that this is not a complete system, but it successfully shows how the cabinet fits together)

It's enough information for me to build one!

This image shows some of the systems vents:

This picture gives some idea as to how the processor boards were arranged and how the front panels could slide sideways, allowing access to them:

These images give some insight as to the backplane arrangement:

 

[Irinikus]

Here's all the information I have on the Data Vault at this point:

Here's a low resolution picture of an actual unit next to a CM-5

Heres the patent information on the device:

Here are some more pictures: (Including the cabinet's designer Tamiko Thiel!)

 

[Irinikus]

I've just made a start on this model by building up one of the first assets, being a 24-pin dual in-line "logic chip": (Rendered in Maya 6.5 on my Tezro)

The way I'm going to attack this, is to build up all of the assets for this module in Maya 6.5 on my Tezro, and then move all of them into Blender on my Mac Pro for assembly and final rendering.

 

[Irinikus]

Some of the 24-pin dual in-line chips on the module are socketed, so I made up this dual in-line socket for this purpose:

 

[Irinikus]

Here's a nice video covering some of the design aspects of the Connection Machine:

 

[flexion]

that "thinking machine" is a beauty!!

 

[Irinikus]

That it certainly is!

 

[Irinikus]

Today I did some more work on this and generated a few more of the components required to build up the logic board:

 

[Irinikus]

I have added some labels to the chips to increase their "authenticity" I was only able to pull one of the actual labels from the pictures that I have, as the resolution is generally not good enough to see the actual labels!

I have managed to capture the actual labels of the chips that matter though!

 

[Irinikus]

Today I got around to doing some work on this:

 

[Elf]

Putting them on anti-static foam blocks was a nice touch

 

[Irinikus]

Thanks Man! I enjoy going through the motions, as if I were building it up with real components!

 

[Irinikus]

Yet some more progress on this!

 

[Irinikus]

Here's the next iteration with the relevant label correction and CPU + socket completed:

 

[Irinikus]

I'm now complete with the component set!

I'll get on with the board when I have time!

 

[rooprob]

Awesome project!
I hope we get to see a bit of your crafting process as a screen recording on Youtube.

 

[Irinikus]

I'm sure I can put something together, but I'd like to get a bit further in the build first.

 

[Irinikus]

I have managed to get some more information, giving me the correct labels for the DIP's, so I'll update the model accordingly!

This is a close up of a node board from a CM-2a, the RAM modules feature different chip packages to those found on the node board of a standard CM-2, but the layout of all of the rest of the components on the board is identical, so I can now allocate correct labels to the various DIP's on the board!

 

[Irinikus]

Today I made a couple of corrections to the models in my CM-2 component set and I'm going to continue the process of producing the correct labels for the DIP's found on the compute node, using my Mac.

 

[Elf]

Nice desk arrangement, it almost looks like the Indigo 1 is driving the monitor / desktop there