Re: OT - almost. Tiny DIY Forth computer. Message #2 Posted by Luiz C. Vieira (Brazil) on 18 Aug 2012, 6:14 p.m., in response to message #1 by Cristian Arezzini
Hi.
Indeed a very interesting design. It uses a ATMEGA168, a 16Kbytes FLASH ROM microcontroller, as seen by the pictures. It is the same one used in some Arduino design (UNO and DUEMILANOVE use ATMEGA328, 32K versions of the ATMEGA168). As you mention: Quote: Isn't technology advancement amazing?
I'd add: Isn't it amazing what some guys do with currently available technology? My respect and admiration! There was a time when our amazing calculators were designed from scratch, having their hardware being also designed to match demanded operational specs. Today we see the opposite: there is plenty of ready available hardware, we now need to focus on what to do with it. Somehow what we face today is the result of an evolutionary process. I for one believe both approaches are valid, it is just a matter of how do you want to do it. I take as an example the very Monte's 41CL board. As I recall, based on its development log, both approaches were used: design custom chips at first, then use current technology to implement the final product. As for the existing technology approach, we have both Diego's and Meindert's designs.
"Isn't technology advancement amazing?" I do think so.
Cheers.
Luiz (Brazil)
Edited: 18 Aug 2012, 6:28 p.m.
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