Edible "logic gate": these scientists made desserts into "mini computers"

Reports from the Heart of the Machine

Editor: Qian Zhang

The logic of isoorphism is the basic module of computer science and is also an introductory course when learning computer-related knowledge. But have you ever thought that they can also be used to make candy?

Over the past decade, we've witnessed many innovations in the food sector, such as 3D printed food, food-ready sensors, robotic cooking, AR dining, etc., but so far, these innovations have all been based on existing food technology.

An innovation from Monash University in Australia broke the situation: they created a system called "Logic Bonbon" that embedded the "logic gate" directly into the candy.

Logic Bonbon includes a prefabricated hollow candy and three different "logic gate" options that allow flavored liquids to flow into the candy.

With these logic gates, you can introduce different liquids into the hollow area of the candy, resulting in different flavor and color combinations. furthermore. Logic Bonbon also has a transparent top layer through which you can see the final result of the logic gate "running".

Over the past three months, the researchers have invited 10 participants to test the system, allowing them to fill their candy with different flavor combinations.

"By interacting with Logic Bonbon, participants can actually experience and learn logical operations. It can actually be called a miniature edible computer, which needs to input, perform calculations and output results in different combinations, while displaying different expressions and flavors, allowing users to experience the 'taste' of computing," said Jialin Deng, the study's first author and a researcher at Monash University's Exertion Games Lab.

"This project shows that even something as simple as ingredients and meals can be used as a medium to introduce people to computer concepts," said Florian 'Floyd' Mueller, co-author and head of the Exertion Games Lab.

Possible future research directions for the project include developing more sophisticated food calculation systems to further explore how restaurants can be supported to provide a unique dining experience for diners.

Thesis link: https://dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1145/3491102.3501926

Technical details

Logic Bonbon is designed as a computer component

1. Modularity

The modularity of the Logic Bonbon system is a design feature that subdivides the system into smaller parts that can be created independently. They are also interchangeable with modules of different systems. Each basic unit of the Logic Bonbon system consists of a set of input modules, a logic gate, and an output module, as shown in Figure 3.

The inedible input module consists of a 3D printed base (mount in the figure, which acts as the chassis that holds the main body while transferring liquid upwards), two fluid containers (the fuid reservoir in the picture), and two L-shaped joints. In addition, two fluid recyclers (fuid recyclers) are connected to the other side of the base to recover excess fluid. These parts of the Logic Bonbon system are inedible, and the edible part consists of logic gates and output modules of a multi-layered structure.

2. Logic Bonbon's multi-layered structure

Inspired by microfluidic chips with planar or mezzanine structures, Logic Bonbon is designed as a multi-layer structure, with specific fluid devices and logic functions in each layer. Logic Bonbon can perform "and", "or", "Xor" logic operations. Figure 4 below shows the Logic Bonbon structure that can execute the "and" gate.

The bottom side of the "base connector layer" is connected to the base, and the top side is connected to the "logic gate layer". The logic gate layer plays a key role in implementing the calculation. At the top of this layer is another connector layer, which is connected to two "chamber layers", one of which has an overflow vent .e. These two chamber layers will fill the fluid and thus act as a display, indicating whether the calculation was successful. If the two chamber layers reach maximum capacity, excess fluid will be discharged through the overflow port. The translucent "window layer" is located at the top and provides diners with a view of the room floor so that they can see whether the calculation was successful, and success means that the candy can be eaten.

Interact with Logic Bonbon

Diners' interactions with Logic Bonbon begin with their pressure on a liquid tube in the input module filled with different flavors of sauce.

Figure 5 shows an example of a Logic Bonbon system with two preference inputs " x " and " y " .

This design allows two liquids (inputs) to flow out of the pipette and enter Logic Bonbon through the chassis (Figure 6).

The researchers demonstrated three logical operations in Logic Bonbon and their possible outcomes: AND, OR, XOR (Figure 7). Each Logic Bonbon is assigned a different icon to distinguish the three logic gates. The door of AND is heart-shaped, the door of OR is in the shape of a duck, and the door of XOR is the shape of the letter I.

In addition to Logic Bonbon's own preferences, its logic function generates four possible preference outputs when using two "preference inputs": No Preference, Preference x, Preference y, and Mixed Preference.

Please refer to the original paper for more details.

Reference link: https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/using-desserts-to-decode-computer-science