YouTuberBen Eater makes incredible “simple” computers from scratch…on breadboards. His website has carefully laid out instructions of the build and links to each of the different modules.
I built a programmable 8-bit computer from scratch on breadboards using only simple logic gates. I documented the whole project in a series of YouTube videos and on this web site.
BACKGROUND
If you’re interested in seeing the computer in action to get a sense of what it can do, check out these videos:
Comparing C to machine language (this and the following video will give you a sense of how this simple computer relates to modern computers you may be more familiar with)
If you want to dive into the details of how the computer works and understand it from first principles, but are a little unsure of how transistors and logic gates work (or just want a refresher), here’s a few videos to serve as an introduction:
Check out more from Ben Eater on YouTube and see his website here
Make a robot friend with Adafruit’s CRICKIT – A Creative Robotics & Interactive Construction Kit. It’s an add-on to our popular Circuit Playground Express, FEATHER and other platforms to make and program robots with CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. Start controlling motors, servos, solenoids. You also get signal pins, capacitive touch sensors, a NeoPixel driver and amplified speaker output. It complements & extends your boards so you can still use all the goodies on the microcontroller, now you have a robotics playground as well.
