When you want a reminder of simply how briskly issues transfer within the tech world, look no additional than the TinyBasRV microcomputer created by GitHub person Stan6314. When it comes to uncooked computing energy, TinyBasRV could look extra like an 8-bit machine from the early days of non-public computing than something trendy, however you gained’t want to put out the 1000’s of {dollars} it as soon as price for that degree of efficiency. In actual fact, just some {dollars} is sufficient to purchase considered one of these fully-functional, standalone computer systems.
The pc is constructed across the super-cheap 32-bit, RISC-V CH32V003 microcontroller. Person packages are saved in a serial EEPROM chip accessed through I2C. Because of a PS/2 connector for a keyboard and a VGA connector for a monitor, you’ll not have to entry the machine from one other pc by way of UART — it could actually function fully independently. A tiny speaker even permits the TinyBasRV to play some easy musical tones.
The {hardware} design could be very minimal (đŸ“·: Stan6314)
The pc will get its identify from the working system that Stan6314 has loaded onto it — Tiny BASIC. The BASIC programming language could have been dethroned way back, however it’s nonetheless an effective way to rapidly code up some easy packages, particularly if you’re within the temper for some retro computing.
Other than the elements beforehand talked about, additionally, you will have to have a small PCB manufactured that can want a handful of passive elements sprinkled round on it. The pc additionally requires a 5V energy provide in addition to a WCHLinkE programmer for programming the microcontroller.
A really appropriately retro setup! (đŸ“·: Stan6314)
Between the low price and the simplicity of the design, nearly anybody all for electronics ought to have the ability to construct their very own TinyBasRV with out an excessive amount of hassle. Stan6314 has supplied loads of documentation to make the method so simple as attainable, and all the challenge has been launched beneath a permissive GPL-3.0 license. Maybe the most effective a part of all is that Tiny BASIC variations of the snake sport and Tetris have been included in a picture that may be flashed to the EEPROM.
