Date: Tue, 5 Jul 2022 23:04:52 -0700
From: Bret Victor
Subject: Re: magnets
I guess each block also has another magnet on each end, but those are easy.  (Although I wonder if we actually want two magnets per end, so the blocks don't rotate?  Maybe not, depends how it feels.)



On Jul 5, 2022, at 10:50 PM, Bret Victor wrote:

The dot code can either be:
- aligned with the magnets (and presumably, crossovers), in which case we get a uniform grid of dots, but have to read odd rows backwards.
- or, centered within the block, in which case we have staggered dots.  And also have to read them backwards.

I guess the first option is the only one that makes sense, assuming there's enough space to squeeze in that last dot.

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On Jul 5, 2022, at 10:43 PM, Bret Victor wrote:

I think this magnet pattern works.  This is a single species of block that can be flipped around to mate with itself with the proper stagger, and can be shifted left and right by two turns.  This is a top view, showing the pattern:

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The actual magnets should probably be placed on the side along the second helix from the bottom, so blocks of any height will snap together.  This is 12 magnets for a 6-turn block (one magnet per turn per side) which is a lot, but I think that's the minimum to get the snaps that we want.  

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I think this works??