4 ms·

Using a Gameboy as a computer for an appliance sounds like a quirky solution, but I can see a lot of similarity with products sold today. For example, many new

by tomerv 8y ago

Using a Gameboy as a computer for an appliance sounds like a quirky solution, but I can see a lot of similarity with products sold today. For example, many new effect pedals for guitar have an accompanying Android/iPhone app, which connects via Bluetooth and controls the settings of the effect. The problem it's solving is a bit different: the pedal has room for a small computer in it, but not for a screen. Effectively, it's using the smartphone as a screen to save on cost and space.

joshumax 8y ago
Gameboys have been used for years in many specialty industrial products due to their inexpensive price point as well as their programmability and peripheral interfaces. One was even found to be used in a medical device [1]. 1: https://hackaday.com/2017/09/24/game-boy-advance-hiding-in-a-medical-device/ https://hackaday.com/2017/09/24/game-boy-advance-hiding-in-a...
- pard68 8y ago
  Not to mention that programming on the GB/C is a joy. It is just C and if you are not using sprites there is not really any need for Assembly even.
  - mhink 8y ago
    Hell, programming in Z80 assembly is really nice on the DMG/CGB. Although I suppose that’s more due to the fact that RGBDS is a really nice assembler.
joezydeco 8y ago
IMO that's more like using the phone or tablet as a better user interface to an embedded product. Which is totally a good thing as far as I can see, especially if it can add more features to the pedal without the developer having to spend precious BOM on the the screen and input keys. I would think a better analogy is the Raspberry Pi being put into all kinds of products. Nobody is respinning or modifying the RPis - they're being used as a COTS CPU for a larger project.
londons_explore 8y ago
The downsides are you have to build both an android and iPhone app. Those cross-platform app tools aren't quite there yet. Bluetooth is also lacking rather as a protocol for controlling embedded hardware. Generally, the hardware can't get internet connectivity through the phone unless it's 'app' is open. Bluetooth is also limited to only a few kilobytes per second, which for many use cases is insufficient (eg. streaming video). Some embedded hardware tries to set up a wifi hotspot for the phone to connect to to get round the bandwidth limits, but most phones can't connect to more than one wifi hotspot at once which is a huge disadvantage. Overall, I'm disappointed with Google/Apple and standards bodies for not making a standardized solution to 'embedded device wants to use a phone as a UI'.

by tomerv 8y ago

joshumax 8y ago

Gameboys have been used for years in many specialty industrial products due to their inexpensive price point as well as their programmability and peripheral interfaces. One was even found to be used in a medical device [1]. 1: https://hackaday.com/2017/09/24/game-boy-advance-hiding-in-a-medical-device/ https://hackaday.com/2017/09/24/game-boy-advance-hiding-in-a...

pard68 8y ago
Not to mention that programming on the GB/C is a joy. It is just C and if you are not using sprites there is not really any need for Assembly even.
- mhink 8y ago
  Hell, programming in Z80 assembly is really nice on the DMG/CGB. Although I suppose that’s more due to the fact that RGBDS is a really nice assembler.

joezydeco 8y ago

IMO that's more like using the phone or tablet as a better user interface to an embedded product. Which is totally a good thing as far as I can see, especially if it can add more features to the pedal without the developer having to spend precious BOM on the the screen and input keys. I would think a better analogy is the Raspberry Pi being put into all kinds of products. Nobody is respinning or modifying the RPis - they're being used as a COTS CPU for a larger project.

londons_explore 8y ago

The downsides are you have to build both an android and iPhone app. Those cross-platform app tools aren't quite there yet. Bluetooth is also lacking rather as a protocol for controlling embedded hardware. Generally, the hardware can't get internet connectivity through the phone unless it's 'app' is open. Bluetooth is also limited to only a few kilobytes per second, which for many use cases is insufficient (eg. streaming video). Some embedded hardware tries to set up a wifi hotspot for the phone to connect to to get round the bandwidth limits, but most phones can't connect to more than one wifi hotspot at once which is a huge disadvantage. Overall, I'm disappointed with Google/Apple and standards bodies for not making a standardized solution to 'embedded device wants to use a phone as a UI'.