A Raspberry Pi That Thinks It’s a PDP-8! @Raspberry_Pi #PiDay #RaspberryPi
Excellent project + write-up from Andrew Back featured on DesignSpark.
Some time (2 years?) ago I purchased a PiDP-8 kit, an extremely cool Raspberry Pi (896-8660) powered project that combines an “operator front panel” comprised of switches and indicators, with the SimH multi-system computer history simulator, to create an authentic looking, albeit miniaturised, PDP-8. In this post we take a quick look at the PDP-8 and SimH, before moving on to finally assembling the PiDP-8.
But what is a PDP-8 I hear you cry? Well, a 12-bit machine introduced in 1965 and seemingly the world’s first successful minicomputer. Which is to say not a mainframe computer filling up a room with many racks of equipment; something that could sit on top of a desk, no less!
Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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Each Friday is PiDay here at Adafruit! Be sure to check out our posts, tutorials and new Raspberry Pi related products. Adafruit has the largest and best selection of Raspberry Pi accessories and all the code & tutorials to get you up and running in no time!