Pattern of the Year 2012

[p46beth]

So...
it appears that no one else has started a nomination thread for the pattern of the year. Since Calcyman seems to have vanished, I am starting it now. The rules, copied from last year's thread, are:

Same rules apply:

• You may enter as many patterns as you like, as long as you have discovered or engineered the pattern(s) yourself.
• You can vote for at most three patterns.
• You are not allowed to vote for your own entries.
• You cannot enter a pattern into more than one Pattern of the Year competition.
• Only Life patterns, i.e. those that operate in the semi-totalistic Moore-neighbourhood rule B3/S23, will be permitted.
• The pattern should have been discovered/created in the year of entry.

Apart from the above restrictions, the competition is very open-ended.

The deadline for nominations is January 31, at which point I will begin a new thread for voting.
The voting will last until February 28.

Hopefully, this will help get this forum rolling again!

[Sokwe]

I would like to make three separate nominations.

1. The 37-cell c/4 orthogonal spaceship by Josh Ball (topic here). In terms of minimum population, it is the smallest known c/4 orthogonal spaceship.

Code: Select all

x = 19, y = 12, rule = B3/S23
bo$bo8bo$obo5bo3bo$8bo3b2o$5bob2o5b2o$b6o2bo6bo$2b2o6bo3b3o$10bo3bob2o
$13bo$18bo$17bo$17bo!

2. The statorless p3 oscillator by Jason Summers (topic here). This is the first statorless period-3 oscillator.

Code: Select all

x = 31, y = 28, rule = B3/S23
9bobo5bo3bo5bobo$8bo3bo4bo3bo4bo3bo$9bo7bo3bo7bo$11b2ob2obo3bob2ob2o$
17bo3bo$10bo3bo9bo3bo$8bobo17bobo2$8bo19bo$7b2o18b2o$7bo19bo$5bo2bo16b
o2bo$o4bo14bo4bo$4ob2ob3o9b4ob2ob3o$3ob2ob4o9b3ob2ob4o$5bo4bo14bo4bo$
2bo2bo16bo2bo$3bo19bo$2b2o18b2o$2bo19bo2$obo17bobo$2bo3bo9bo3bo$9bo3bo
$3b2ob2obo3bob2ob2o$bo7bo3bo7bo$o3bo4bo3bo4bo3bo$bobo5bo3bo5bobo!

3. The 444-tick glider-to-Herschel converter by Guam (post here). This is the fastest known stable glider-to-Herschel converter/90-degree glider reflector currently known.

Code: Select all

x = 77, y = 115, rule = B3/S23
46b2o6bo$46b2o5bobo$54bo4$37b2o$37b2o3$59b2o$59bo$60b3o$62bo5$40b2o$
41bo$38b3o$38bo8$44b2o4b2o$44b2o4b2o4$49b2o$45b2o2b2o$44bobo$44bo$43b
2o2$71b2o$71bobo$73bo$73b2o2$57b2o$56bobo$37b2o17bo$37b2o16b2o4$28b2o$
29bo$29bobo$30b2o33b2o$65b2o2$27b2o43bob2o$28bo9b2o4b2o26b2obo$28bobo
7bobo3bobob2o5b2o$29b2o8bo6bob2o5b2o$46bo$35b2o6b2obo$35b2o6b2obobo$
47b2o5$43b2o$34b2o7bo$34b2o5bobo$41b2o$51b2o$50bobo$50bo$49b2o3$31b2o$
32bo$29b3o$6bo6b2o14bo36b2o$4bobo6b2o21b2o28b2o$5b2o29bobo$37bo9$20b2o
$20b2o2$2b2o$bobo$bo$2o42b2o$44bo30b2o$45b3o27b2o$42bo4bo21b2o$11b2o
26bobobo25b2o$10bobo26b2o2bo$10bo32b2o$9b2o60b2o$22b2o40b2o5b2o$22b2o
40b2o3$24b2o$24b2o!

[dvgrn]

• You may enter as many patterns as you like, as long as you have discovered or engineered the pattern(s) yourself.
  ...
• You are not allowed to vote for your own entries.

The first and third rules seem to need an addendum. By tradition and precedent, you're also allowed to nominate an unspecified reasonable number of patterns discovered or engineered by others -- just provide links and proper attribution as usual... According to Calcyman in the 2010 thread, it's okay to vote for patterns you nominated, as long as you didn't have a hand in the construction.

Speaking of which, I'd like to nominate a few patterns myself:

1) Guam's G4 Herschel merge circuit. This might be a grey area, since Guam posted the original pattern on 28 December 2011, but the first pattern showing it as a merge circuit was Calcyman's, on 5 January 2012. It's also included in my combination pattern, but there's no second signal merging in, and I think most of the other conduits in the pattern are from 2011 or earlier.

2) Also by Guam, a direct stable Herschel duplicator -- finally! Well, I do admit that having to put a Herschel receiver on the front end makes the "direct" part a little questionable... but there's no intermediate all-glider stage after the first R-pentomino, anyway -- just one cleanup glider and an output glider. Calcyman posted a full working example three posts down in the same thread.

3) The fast and compact ambidextrous G5 Herschel transceiver. The Spartan++ transmitter is by Guam again. It's shown with both orientations of a standard Callahan receiver in my other silly sample pattern.

Really I kind of wish I could combine these three into one nomination somehow, for Guam's continuing work on stable circuitry in 2012, along with Sokwe's and Extrementhusiast's contributions. But there isn't really a single pattern created last year that shows off all the 2012 stuff. I suppose if someone nominates the latest Hersrch test pattern, I might well vote for that. Assuming I'd be allowed to -- good Golly, another grey area...!

[Sokwe]

I kind of wish I could combine these three into one nomination somehow, for Guam's continuing work on stable circuitry in 2012, along with Sokwe's and Extrementhusiast's contributions.

Last year I nominated "Guam's collection of new stable technology", so this could perhaps be done again, although it would be nice to get a pattern that shows off all of the new components so people know what they are voting for.

I would also like to nominate the period-4 90-degree reflector found by Karel Suhajda, which can repeat at periods as low as 52. This is the first fast period-4 90-degree reflector.

Code: Select all

x = 58, y = 35, rule = B3/S23
31bobo$31b2o8bobo$32bo7bob2o$38b3o5bo$37bo3b8o$34bo3b2o9bo$14bo19bo4b
5ob4obo$14b3o17bo6bo3bo4bo2b2o$17bo14bo2bo3bobobo3b2obobobo$16b2o12b3o
2bo7b2obo3bobo$28bob2ob3obo6bob2o2b2obo2b2o$27bo2b2o2bo3b3ob4o11bo$27b
2o4b3o5b2o7b7o$18bobo7bobo2b4o14bo$18b2o9bo7bo11bo3b2o$19bo8bob7o8b2ob
ob3obo$29bo9bobo4bobobo$19b2o10b9ob3o2bobo$19b2o11bo7bo3bobobo$28bob2o
b5o2bo2bobobo$28b3o3bo3bobobo2bo$28bo2bo3b3obobob2o2bo$8b2o18b2o4b2obo
3bo3b3o$3b2o2bo2bo17b2o2b2o3bo2bob2o$3bo4bobo16bobo2bo2b2o3bobob2o$2ob
o5bo16bo6bo2bobobo3bobo$bobob2o19bo3bo2bob3o3bo2bobo$o2bo2bo8b2o13bo4b
obo2b3obob2o$2o2bo4bo5bobo10bo2b3o5b2o3bo$5b5o7bo11bobobo3bobobo2bo$
16bo10bobobobo3b2ob2obo$7bo9b3o6bob2obo3b2o4bo$6bobo10bo6bo5bo6b2obo$
7bo19b5o6bo2b2o$29bo8b2o!