Generating random numbers in software has historically been a fine art. Many companies and individuals have tried to generate truly random numbers in software and failed, some of which have failed in such a grandiose fashion it has costed business millions of dollars.
Games By Email required a dice rolling system for numerous online games. After trying various software implementations, some of his users analysed the dice rolling system and were convinced it wasn’t random enough. To put his clients mind as ease, he decided that the only real way to fix the problem was to roll real dice – not generate the dice rolls in software.
Meet the Dice-O-Matic Mark II, a 7 foot tall, 104 pound dice eating month which generates 1.3 million rolls per day! The Dice-O-Matic uses a combination of standard hardware such a bike chain, sprockets and electrical equipment which is coupled with some custom Microsoft .NET software to read photo taken of the dice after the roll to analyse what the values where – completely kick arse.
If you’re having problems viewing the above video, watch the Dice-O-Matic Mark II on YouTube directly.
