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1-bit CPU for ‘super low-performance computer’ launched – sells out promptly
(www.tomshardware.com)
What's the purpose of this thing?
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2023
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It's a computer in almost its simplest form.
There's almost nothing to it, the circuit diagram is easy to read, you program it literally by flipping a couple of dip switches.
It's kind of an experiment for someone wanting to get into retro computer or hardware design.
That said it's essentially useless and I would much rather buy a kit from Ben Eater start with a 6502 and make something that can actually run complex programs.
Even with just one bit and a few switches this seems like the sort of thing Picard could use to send an encoded message to Riker and Data in the future should the need arise.
Why not use well placed gold plate with impressions? Times gonna march on anyway, no need for power either.
Turn an LED on and off apparently.
ETA to someone setting up an array and running Doom or Linux?
3 months
How many for bad apple
Fun. It does not much, really. Two instructions (add, jump), parameters either 0 or 1, two instructions in total. It just shows how a computer works in general. All key signals are visible (Clock, Program Counter, Accumulator).
About as useful as a quantum computer, just way cheaper.
Education.
I teach an electronics class and a barebones version of this is one of the early logic gate labs: an SR latch built using NAND gates. It can set and reset a bit!
This is the perfect gadget for teaching electronics and logic.
If I was to teach such a class, I would set up exactly that circuit without telling them what it is, and let the kids find out: "You've got three LEDs and four DIP switches. Here you have a circuit diagram of it. What is this thing?"
AFAIK, they are used as relays.
From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1-bit_computing#1-bit
Computers and microcomputers may also be used, but they tend to overcomplicate the task and often require highly trained personnel to develop and maintain the system. A simpler device, designed to operate on inputs and outputs one-at-a-time and configured to resemble a relay system, was introduced. These devices became known to the controls industry as programmable logic controllers (PLC).
See also the playlist linked in the other comment with more explanations:
1-Bit Breadboard Computer - Usagi Electric (YouTube)
Actual PLCs in the wild are industrial cabinets with a lot more capacity. Price-wise if you have a DIY project in mind you're better off buying a RISC-V microcontroller, under 10 bucks including board, with vastly more IO and processing power. Still not enough to replace one of those industrial cabinets, though, especially when it comes to IO capacity, do you have any idea how many sensors and actuators rollercoasters have.
This thing is so limited you have to engineer your problem to fit. Maybe something like switching your doorbell from normal to quiet to silent to flash lights. On the upside it's dead-simple.
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mee seek and destroy…what’s is my purpose again?
Sorry, one bit isn't even going to pass butter...
Perfect school project thing. Imagine you have an electronics/computer course and present your students with this circuit (without the print mask!). "See? Power supply, power LED, three other LEDs, four DIP switches. Here is the circuit diagram, if you cannot figure it out. Your task: Find out what this thing is and how it works. Bonus: give a meaningful description for the settings of the switches."
It will run doom before boxing day.
I'm glad we all had this thought together. "Can we make this run doom...?" It's rare that the answer is truly no, but this is probably a case.
Am I the only one super unimpressed by most “it can run doom” things? It’s either some beefy arm CPU or a total hack where it isn’t really running doom and they shoved a raspberry pi in it or something.
That is because most things can't run doom without modification. I'm fine with adding stuff but displays and inputs need to be on the hardware and the thing must look like its untampered with. For me it's just a funny magic trick so I'm not that bothered if it's faked
I feel almost entirely the opposite about this. I feel like adding a display or inputs is fine, but if you want to say you have Doom running on a toaster then it damn well better be running on a chip that's actually in the toaster! If you just stuff a Pi in a toaster then it's not really the toaster running Doom at all, it's a Raspberry Pi in a toaster suit. I feel like "can it run Doom" is interesting when it shows that common devices have more powerful chips in them than you realize and that somebody hacked it to run arbitrary code. It's sort of an interesting metric to show how far we've come with computers, and how optimized Doom can be... I personally don't find it that interesting if you're just shoving a single board computer into a weird form factor, and it always just feels like clickbait to me.
With scalpers being especially prevelant in the tech scene (hello pi), being sold out just doesn't have the same ring to it anymore you know?
Eh, for the company making them it still has that same old Ca-ching sound
Just the one time though.
Is this what they use to power those cheap android tablets you get from wish?
This is gonna be on a “rate my setup” post any minute now.
This seems like a great computer to use in schools to teach how a computer works
Can't wait for the Skyrim release
Why do these articles always go on about stuff being sold out like it means something? Even if it's true, that almost certainly means they've simply been bought up by resellers.
I recently needed a plumbing part. Obviously no one's getting excited about plumbing parts. That was also 'sold out' on the manufacturers website.
In reality there are a thousand resellers selling the thing. Manufacturer doesn't need to have large warehouse or deal with a large number of customers. Resellers get to make a profit by selling for more than the large order unit price they paid. Customers like me get to buy the product at less than the original small order price the manufacturer was asking.
Sorry. That was me. I can't get enough of 'plumbing part', and am bathed in as I type this. Hahaha good point.
Okay, but will it run doom??
IDK about Doom but someone is likely already working on a VLC port for it.
Unfortunately it's about 15 bits short.
So buy more!
Imagine having to build a hardware cluster just to run Doom.
I hope somebody reads this and does it lmao
Somebody wrote an FPGA that plays level 1. No processor, just a great big mess of programmed wires.
Now make it in hardware (asic)
I mean if the FPGA is done an asic would be doable, but someone would need to REALLY want to do it.
They mention in the article that it won't :(
I'm not mad... I'm just disappointed...
You just wait!
For those curious about 1-bit computers, see Usagi Electric's playlist:
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
1-Bit Breadboard Computer - Usagi Electric (YouTube)
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Oh man, I just discovered this guy recently. I'm way into his bendix project. I really hope he gets the thing running and shows us what he can do with it.
Funny it could sell out when it looks like 4 7400 logic chips that could be wired up on a breadboard.
Yeap, that's all it is plus the PCB and accessories. Looking at it, looks like a 74HC00 - quad NAND gates, 74HC14 - Schmitt trigger inverters, 74HC74 - A dual D flip-flop, and a 74HC153 - dual 4 input mux.
The clock isn't even a 555, just an RC circuit passed through the Schmitt trigger and the provided hardware XOR is where our NANDs come in.
It's a neat little project but I think good CPU lessons need to have a MAR/MDR/CIR and show the fetch, decode, and execute cycle. Because a lot of modern concepts derive from asking the question of "how do I optimize that?"
That's cute. Fun.
🐻❄️
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