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Supercomputer clicked together from Legos and Raspberry Pi's

The $35 Raspberry Pi Linux mini system and a whole bunch of Legos get together to make a low-cost supercomputer.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
Raspberry Pi supercomputer
Can we get a Lego kit for this? Simon Cox

The flexible, affordable Raspberry Pi Linux computer system has been hacked, tinkered, and transformed into all sorts of creations since its introduction. There's a Raspberry Pi Apple TV, a Raspberry Pi ocean explorer, and Raspberry Pi smart glasses.

Now there's a Raspberry Pi supercomputer. How do you turn a 700MHz mini system into a supercomputer? You use 64 of them and mount them in a rack made out of Legos.

It took a team of computer scientists from the University of Southampton in the U.K., led by Professor Simon Cox, to build the supercomputer. Named Iridis-Pi, the system cost just over $4,000 to put together.

Cox's 6-year-old son, James Cox, provided specialist support on the Lego design. The first test to run on Iridis-Pi was, naturally, calculating Pi.

Want to make your own Raspberry Pi supercomputer? Cox shares the complete instructions right here.

Raspberry Pi supercomputer
That's a whole lot of Pi. Simon Cox

(Via BoingBoing)