Pi calculator/Snippet

The pi calculator is a device constructed by Adam P. Goucher in February 2010, which calculates the decimal digits of pi and displays them in the Life universe as 8 × 10 dot matrix characters.

The actual calculation is done in binary, using a streaming spigot algorithm based on linear fractional transformations. The pi calculator is made up of a 188-state computer connected to a printing device via period-8 regulators and a binary-to-decimal conversion mechanism. The complete pattern can be found in Golly's Very Large Patterns online archive.