Minion

From TheAnalogThing
Revision as of 09:50, 12 August 2021 by Sven (talk | contribs) (+terminology)

The Minion mode allows the connection of two or more The Analog Things together in a Minion chain to realize a bigger analog computer for more complex tasks or simulations which need more calculator elements than a single device provides. There is no limitation of the number of devices working together. The connection is made with a small flat cable (ribbon cable) from the jack named MASTER OUT to the next device and it's jack MINION IN. If more than two ANALOG THING needed, the next is connected to the second and so on.

The most left controls all connected devices which must be switched into MINION mode except the first (most left). Speed (OP TIME) and all modes are controlled from this master. In COEFFICIENT mode the values for the eight coefficients on any device can be setup separately while IC/OP/HALT/REP/REPF modes are controlled only from the first (MASTER). All other devices have to stay in MINION mode. Elements of each ANALOG THING can be connected together with patch cables over different devices in the same way you would do for the single device.

Theory and Terminology

The linked THATs form a singly linked list. This way of connecting things is also refered to as daisy chaining. The concept of only one controller (Master) but one or more controlled entities (Minions) is traditionally called master/slave model. However, this termionology is a frequent point of debate due of being politically incorrect. This is one of the reasons why the term Minion was coined as a replacement of Slave. For further reading, see for instance [1] or [2].

Daisy-Chaining gallery