Instructions For Building The Lego Cray-1 Supercomputer

 A number of people have requested instructions to build their own version of a Lego Cray-1 Supercomputer - As a result I've published them here (as a pdf) - The original Cray-1 was modular in it's design and configuration and the instructions are for one "module" of the Cray-1 and I think 8 of the "modules" should give you a complete Cray "Ring"

The full instructions can be downloaded here (pdf 3.5Mb) 

Lego Cray-1 Installed at The National Museum of Computing (UK)

 A version of the Lego Cray-1 model was installed earlier this year at The National Museum Of Computing which is located at the iconic Bletchley Park site near Milton Keynes here in the UK.  Bletchley Park is famous for the code breaking endeavours of Alan Turing and his team during World War II.  As well as having it's own Cray-1 Supercomputer on site, the The National Museum Of Computing has many fascinating computing exhibits and is well worth a visit.

Building a Lego Supercomputer - The Cray-1 - Part 7

 Finally it was time to put the model on Lego Ideas - you can see it here:

https://ideas.lego.com/projects/4a1111de-55fd-4236-9990-0b4e0cc599d1

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Building a Lego Supercomputer - The Cray-1 - Part 6

Having got the basic Lego design to more accurately reflect the the layout of the Cray-1 it was now possible to focus on colouring up the design and rendering the images

Some of the initial renders are below

 

Building a Lego Supercomputer - The Cray-1 - Part 5

The image below shows an early redesign featuring a new seat height and an "additional" tower between the two existing towers - to create more of the cylindrical outer shape of the Cray-1 towers 

With the revised hinge construction under the seat to place the base of the "middle" tower

It was this basic design would become the basis of the final model for each of the "Cray-1 Lego Units" - the base and now the two towers - that would be used in the Lego Cray-1 Supercomputer - in theory duplicating each of the "Cray-1 Lego Units" should create the the classic cylindrical design.

Building a Lego Supercomputer - The Cray-1 - Part 4

As I read more about the history of the Cray-1 and some of those involved in the design and manufacture of these intricate devices, I'd also started to think more about how to represent the inside of the Cray-1 Supercomputer.  Having some ability to view the insides of the towers also needed to be considered.

However as I spent more time working on these early designs I realised there were a couple of problems.  The first one was the that the seat height wasn't correct for the scale of the towers - this was relatively easy to fix.  The second problem was much more challenging - the shape of the towers in the Cray-1 form, in effect, an unbroken cylinder.  My towers had a large gap between the outer edge of each tower.  In order to solve this problem I would have to return to the drawing board to redesign both the seat and the construction of the the towers.

Building a Lego Super Computer - The Cray-1 - Part 3

 A better understanding of the angles of rotation for each "Cray-1 Lego Unit" (the seat and the tower) led to a better Lego representation of the Cray-1 Supercomputer.

Rendering some of these early designs began to look more like the classic shape of the Cray-1 Supercomputer