Computers and microcomputers may also be used, but they tend to overcomplicate the task and often require highly trained personnel to develop and maintain the system. A simpler device, designed to operate on inputs and outputs one-at-a-time and configured to resemble a relay system, was introduced. These devices became known to the controls industry as programmable logic controllers (PLC).
Actual PLCs in the wild are industrial cabinets with a lot more capacity. Price-wise if you have a DIY project in mind you’re better off buying a RISC-V microcontroller, under 10 bucks including board, with vastly more IO and processing power. Still not enough to replace one of those industrial cabinets, though, especially when it comes to IO capacity, do you have any idea how many sensors and actuators rollercoasters have.
This thing is so limited you have to engineer your problem to fit. Maybe something like switching your doorbell from normal to quiet to silent to flash lights. On the upside it’s dead-simple.
AFAIK, they are used as relays.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-bit_computing#1-bit
See also the playlist linked in the other comment with more explanations:
1-Bit Breadboard Computer - Usagi Electric (YouTube)
Actual PLCs in the wild are industrial cabinets with a lot more capacity. Price-wise if you have a DIY project in mind you’re better off buying a RISC-V microcontroller, under 10 bucks including board, with vastly more IO and processing power. Still not enough to replace one of those industrial cabinets, though, especially when it comes to IO capacity, do you have any idea how many sensors and actuators rollercoasters have.
This thing is so limited you have to engineer your problem to fit. Maybe something like switching your doorbell from normal to quiet to silent to flash lights. On the upside it’s dead-simple.
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
1-Bit Breadboard Computer - Usagi Electric (YouTube)
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.