Man builds giant computer at home

The computer will consist of up to seven panels like this when it is finished.

James Newman is building a 14m (45ft) computer processor in the lounge of his bungalow in Cambridge.

Mr Newman's 16-bit "mega processor" will contain 14,000 individual transistors and 3,500 LED Lights.

So far the project had taken him three years and cost about £20,000, he told the BBC.

Mr Newman said he hoped it would have educational value but it would be hard to transport as it was likely to weigh about half as tonne once finished.

Bits of the processor light up as they operate, but other than that the entire machine operates just the same as a standard chip-sized microprocessor found in all computers.

"I was taken with the idea of being able to see how the thing works," Mr Newman, a digital electronics engineer, said.

"I have a visual way of thinking about things, I wanted to be able to see how a computer works and how things flow around within it.

"I intended it as a learning exercise, and I have learned a lot."

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