3 ms·
Very neat! Reminds me a bit of the Basic Engine[0], which is similar in the sense that it is also a DIY ultra low-cost computer. This looks a bit more involved
by vanderZwan 6y ago
Very neat! Reminds me a bit of the Basic Engine[0], which is similar in the sense that it is also a DIY ultra low-cost computer. This looks a bit more involved than that project though, since there is a lot of custom hardware involved.
Beyond that I guess the main limitation these days would be to find a VGA monitor
https://basicengine.org/ https://basicengine.org/
- unwind 6y agoHuh? This (the TFA, the "Single-chip 2D Retro Game Console") is single-chip, all the work is done in software on a PIC microcontroller with 48 KB RAM. This includes generating 16-color VGA-compatible video, with sprites, and 5 channels of sound. The Basic Engine is based on the 8266 (4 MB of flash) and has a separate hardware video controller chip, plus an I/O expander so at least three chips. It has way more "custom hardware" than the TFA's board.
- vanderZwan 6y agoMy bad, my initial assessment was in terms of "how much of this is off-the-shelf and how much of this requires hardware customization". I had the mistaken impression that the basic engine didn't need a custom PCB, and other than that they both seemed to use off-the-shelf components. So in that sense I thought this required "more" customization (even though, as you mentioned, the basic engine requires more hardware). But I was wrong about that too, so either way you're right[0]. [0] https://basicengine.org/hardware.html https://basicengine.org/hardware.html