Logic Gate Blocks began as my answer to a question I kept hearing from new programmers: “Boolean logic sounds simple on paper—so why is it so hard to picture?” I also wanted to communicate to non programmers the abstract concept of boolean logic that is at the center of all of our electronic devices. I wanted learners to feel logic the way you feel LEGO bricks snapping together, so I set out to pull abstract 1s and 0s off the whiteboard and put them into people’s hands.Over months of sketching, prototyping, and hallway-testing, the idea evolved into a set of palm-sized blocks—each one encapsulating a single combinational gate—that anyone could wire together on a tabletop and watch come to life.

At the heart of the system are four gate blocks—NOT, AND, OR, and XOR—all 3-D printed and topped by matte black acrylic lids etched with their respective symbols.Inputs come from matching switch blocks whose rockers physically toggle between 0 and 1, while output (“probe”) blocks feature translucent acrylic lids that glow whenever a high signal arrives.Everything daisy-chains with everyday 3.5 mm audio cables and splitters, keeping the experience delightfully analog and reminiscent of switchboard operators — the original programers.

Under the hood, each gate block contains a custom PCB with a carefully wired standard NAND IC configured to perform the gate’s truth table.The result is instant, dependable feedback: flip a switch and see probe blocks illuminate (or stay dark) in real time.Learners quickly move from single-gate experiments to cascading networks—building half-adders, inserting probes mid-stream to inspect intermediate states, and discovering first-hand how complex logic emerges from simple building blocks.

The project culminated at the NYU MakerSpace Prototyping Fund showcase, where attendees gathered around the table to piece together their own combinational puzzles.By turning Boolean algebra into a kinetic toy, Logic Gate Blocks transforms an abstract topic into something playful, social, and unforgettable—Legos for the language of computers.