3/5/2023 0 Comments Rsa cryptext d calculator![]() Wonders abound there, and anyone seeing something new in the space between our ears really is laying eyes on it for the first time.īut the brain is a difficult place to explore, and specialized tools are needed to learn its secrets. In humans, the 86 billion neurons contained within our skulls make trillions of connections with each other, weaving the unfathomably intricate pattern of electrochemical circuits that make you, you. Unless, of course, you look inward to the most wonderfully complex structure ever found: the brain. But with every mountain climbed, every depth plunged, and every desert crossed, fewer and fewer places remained to be explored, until today there’s really nothing left to discover. There was a time when our planet still held mysteries, and pith-helmeted or fur-wrapped explorers could sally forth and boldly explore strange places for what they were convinced was the first time. Join us on Wednesday, February 19 at noon Pacific for the Open-Source Neuroscience Hardware Hack Chat with Dr. Continue reading “The TMS1000: The First Commercially Available Microcontroller” → Posted in History, Microcontrollers, Parts, Slider Tagged microcontroller, texas instruments, TMS1000 It would take a few more years until 1974 before they produced the TMS1000, a single-chip microcontroller intended for general purpose use, and the first such part to go on sale. Calculator manufacturers each drove advances in processor silicon, and at Texas Instruments this led to the first all-in-one single-chip microcontrollers being developed in 1971 as pre-programmed CPUs designed to provide a calculator on a chip. Yet many of the first microcomputers were designed with calculators in mind, as was for example the Intel 4004. It seems strange to modern ears, but for an engineer around 1970 a desktop calculator was a more exciting prospect than a desktop computer. ![]() This changed for me in the early 1990s when the first affordable microcontrollers with on-board EEPROM came to market, but by then these chips had already been with us for a couple of decades. Flashing an LED or keeping an eye on a microswitch or two became a major undertaking in both construction and cost, so we’d only go to those lengths if the application really demanded it. ![]() I remember Z80 systems on stripboard, with the Z80 itself alongside an EPROM, RAM chips, 74-series decoder logic, and peripheral chips such as the 6402 UART or the 8255 I/O port. Those of us who remember the days before widely available and easy-to-program microcontrollers will tell you that computer control of a small hardware project was certainly possible, but instead of dropping in a single chip it would have involved constructing an entire computer system. It’s fair to say that without microcontrollers, many of the projects we feature on Hackaday would never be made. Imagine A World Without Microcontrollers The Texas Instruments Speak & Spell from 1978 was a typical use for the TMS1000. But how many of us have spared a thought for how the microcontroller evolved? It’s time to go back a few decades to look at the first commercially available microcontroller, the Texas Instruments TMS1000. We use a microcontroller without a second thought, in applications where once we might have resorted to a brace of 74 logic chips. And remember, if you can’t get your hands on one part, it always pays to experiment! Posted in clock hacks Tagged clock, edge-lit Others have attempted similar builds, too. We’re a sucker for a quality retro typeface, so are firmly on Team Edge-Lit, but sound off in the comments which you think is best. It’s a versatile project that ended up working as a clock in two unique yet appealing ways. This led to realise that the clock could also be configured to display in an alternate mode, instead creating numerals using the individual RGB LEDs as segments behind a frosted acrylic panel. These are edge-lit by what appear to be WS2812 addressable LEDs, or similar. Rather than going with gas-filled extravagances, instead, acrylic pieces are engraved with similar numerals to the old technology. The Foxie clock gets its name from its creator, in a portmanteau with the famous Nixie tubes. Never mind, for there are other ways to go – as demonstrates with the Foxie Clock. They’re also a pain to drive, demand high voltages, and aren’t exactly cheap and easy to come by. Nixie tubes are a hacker favorite for their warm glow and elegant, mid-century numerals.
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