Hi!
I am going (or thinking about going) to build a DIY computer using full adders with clocked inputs, and 3mm red/green bi-colour LEDs on the outputs. I don't know if anyone has done this sort of thing before (though I have seen DIY computers with flashy lights, I haven't found any using full adders, other than LED number display decimal adders (liek calculators)) It should run on a single 9v battery and 7805/78L05, but since it will probably draw a godlike amount of current, I will probably have to run it on 4x 9v in series, with several diodes and a 78(L)05 VREG. This will be my first real digital project, but I have done plenty of analog work, so I should be fine building it. To get a better idea of what I mean, this is the data for: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/
Ignore the switches, that was purely just for my testing, finished design won't include this.
I am going to use 12 hex schmitt trigger inverter oscillators with frequency values that are primes, i.e. .02hz, .05hz, .11hz, .17hz, .23hz, etc. These don't need to be exact at all, but they need to be sorta close to their 'ideal' value .
I am going to make it '16-bit', and therefore have 16 Bicolour LEDs on the output (with resistors). However, I need to know if I can daisy chain this: http://www.futurlec.com.au/74LS/74LS83.jsp (sorry if that's advertising...) together, with, (idk if this will work) C4 of the first chip going to C0 of the next, and so on, if you know what I mean?
I will put the LEDs in an 'LED matrix', and the effect will be a 'programmable' LED flasher, and it will look AMAZING with the Green/Yellow/Red/Off flashing lights going for evermore (or until the battery runs dead).
http://ledcalc.com/ says the value for putting 23.3mA of current through an LED from a 5v supply is 120Ω, with the resistor going before the LED anode. Can I connect the anodes of the bicolour LEDs to the outputs of the OR/XOR directly, and have a single 120Ω resistor to ground, to cut costs/difficulty?
I am going to patch the clocks to the inputs with just insulated wire, because 130 banana plugs/sockets just isn't within my budget, and 5m of crappy wire is .
I will build the entire 'computer' on veroboard, since I have NO experience with PCB design or 'printing'.
I've done quite a bit of googling, and messing with the simulator to test some of this, and the base seems to be working pretty sweet, however, i've only tested this in a simulator. At these low frequencies, is noise going to be any problem with this? It's not a mission critical circuit AT ALL, but, is noise likely to cause anything to go wrong, including power supply noise?
Also, incase I can't daisy chain the full adder ICs, can I get away with using a half adder with this? I'm quite new to digital circuits, so it's kind of hard to get my head around it and understand it properly.
LEDs I will be using are http://www.futurlec.com.au/LED/LED3RG.jsp. They are common cathode(negative).
If you think this is crazy(or that I am crazy, which I am ), see http://www.homebrewcpu.com/! That, there, is CRAZY. But awesome. Seriously, check that site out!
I am also thinking of putting capacitors and resistors in parallel with the LEDs, to add a little bit of fading (very subtle amount!). I could also have a single transistor active lowpass, but 32 of those seems just a liiittle bit complicated for such a small effect.
I have also thought of sticking a piezo element on each output and making a big mother clicky thing .
I apologise if this is hard to read and understand, and if it is too long, but like the rules say, better too much information then not enough, yet I still think i'm forgetting to say something crucial! I tried to do a bit of paragraphing and seperation, but well, i'm no good at neatness, just look at that simulator data! . Please help me if you can .
Feel free to yell at me if I did anything wrong! I also invite anyone to steal my idea, and you can sell it for millions (if anyone would buy it...), as long as you give me some credit for the idea (just write 'based on idea by doublebeta/Kyen Langton(my real name)).
EDIT: Wtf, forum removed my crappy paragraphing (three spaces before text)! Oh well.
I am going (or thinking about going) to build a DIY computer using full adders with clocked inputs, and 3mm red/green bi-colour LEDs on the outputs. I don't know if anyone has done this sort of thing before (though I have seen DIY computers with flashy lights, I haven't found any using full adders, other than LED number display decimal adders (liek calculators)) It should run on a single 9v battery and 7805/78L05, but since it will probably draw a godlike amount of current, I will probably have to run it on 4x 9v in series, with several diodes and a 78(L)05 VREG. This will be my first real digital project, but I have done plenty of analog work, so I should be fine building it. To get a better idea of what I mean, this is the data for: http://www.falstad.com/circuit/
Rich (BB code):
$ 1 5.0E-6 1.500424758475255 50 5.0 50
154 144 256 272 256 0 2 0.0
154 336 240 464 240 0 2 -0.0
w 272 256 304 256 0
w 304 256 336 256 0
w 336 144 272 144 0
w 336 224 272 224 0
w 272 224 272 208 0
w 272 144 272 208 0
w 288 112 464 112 0
M 592 144 624 144 2 2.5
w 112 272 144 272 0
w 144 96 80 96 0
w 80 96 80 240 0
w 80 240 144 240 0
w 144 128 112 128 0
w 112 128 112 272 0
w 464 112 464 128 0
w 336 176 304 176 0
w 304 176 304 256 0
w 464 240 576 240 0
w 576 240 576 192 0
M 576 192 624 192 2 2.5
150 144 112 288 112 0 2 0.0
150 336 160 464 160 0 2 0.0
152 464 144 592 144 0 2 0.0
w 592 208 576 192 0
w 576 192 560 208 0
150 192 320 256 320 0 2 0.0
w 192 304 80 304 0
w 192 336 128 336 0
w 128 336 128 416 0
w 80 304 80 400 0
w 80 400 192 400 0
w 128 416 192 416 0
154 208 400 272 400 0 2 0.0
w 192 400 208 384 0
w 192 416 208 416 0
w 272 400 304 400 0
w 304 400 304 368 0
w 304 400 336 400 0
150 304 352 384 352 0 2 0.0
w 256 320 256 272 0
w 256 272 400 272 0
w 304 336 272 336 0
w 272 336 272 352 0
w 272 352 272 384 0
w 272 384 416 384 0
w 384 352 416 320 0
152 416 304 512 304 0 2 0.0
w 400 272 416 288 0
154 416 400 512 400 0 2 0.0
w 336 400 416 416 0
w 560 208 560 416 0
w 560 416 128 416 0
w 512 304 592 304 0
w 512 400 592 400 0
M 592 304 624 304 0 2.5
M 592 400 624 400 0 2.5
s 80 400 48 400 0 0 false
s 272 352 240 352 0 0 false
s 272 208 224 208 0 0 false
s 80 240 32 240 0 0 false
s 112 272 48 272 0 0 false
x 117 37 189 43 0 24 Clocks
x 241 19 280 25 0 24 300
x 340 20 379 26 0 24 150
x 455 20 507 26 0 24 80hz
R 256 48 288 80 1 2 300.0 2.5 2.5 0.0 0.5
R 352 48 384 16 1 2 150.0 2.5 2.5 0.0 0.5
R 480 48 528 48 1 2 80.0 2.5 2.5 0.0 0.5
w 256 48 48 272 0
w 480 48 224 208 0
w 352 48 32 240 0
w 480 48 240 352 0
w 352 48 48 400 0
162 592 208 592 176 1 2.1024259 0.0 1.0 0.0
162 592 144 592 176 1 2.1024259 1.0 0.0 0.0
g 592 176 624 176 0
162 592 400 592 352 1 2.1024259 1.0 0.0 0.0
162 592 304 592 352 1 2.1024259 0.0 1.0 0.0
g 592 352 608 352 0
I am going to use 12 hex schmitt trigger inverter oscillators with frequency values that are primes, i.e. .02hz, .05hz, .11hz, .17hz, .23hz, etc. These don't need to be exact at all, but they need to be sorta close to their 'ideal' value .
I am going to make it '16-bit', and therefore have 16 Bicolour LEDs on the output (with resistors). However, I need to know if I can daisy chain this: http://www.futurlec.com.au/74LS/74LS83.jsp (sorry if that's advertising...) together, with, (idk if this will work) C4 of the first chip going to C0 of the next, and so on, if you know what I mean?
I will put the LEDs in an 'LED matrix', and the effect will be a 'programmable' LED flasher, and it will look AMAZING with the Green/Yellow/Red/Off flashing lights going for evermore (or until the battery runs dead).
http://ledcalc.com/ says the value for putting 23.3mA of current through an LED from a 5v supply is 120Ω, with the resistor going before the LED anode. Can I connect the anodes of the bicolour LEDs to the outputs of the OR/XOR directly, and have a single 120Ω resistor to ground, to cut costs/difficulty?
I am going to patch the clocks to the inputs with just insulated wire, because 130 banana plugs/sockets just isn't within my budget, and 5m of crappy wire is .
I will build the entire 'computer' on veroboard, since I have NO experience with PCB design or 'printing'.
I've done quite a bit of googling, and messing with the simulator to test some of this, and the base seems to be working pretty sweet, however, i've only tested this in a simulator. At these low frequencies, is noise going to be any problem with this? It's not a mission critical circuit AT ALL, but, is noise likely to cause anything to go wrong, including power supply noise?
Also, incase I can't daisy chain the full adder ICs, can I get away with using a half adder with this? I'm quite new to digital circuits, so it's kind of hard to get my head around it and understand it properly.
LEDs I will be using are http://www.futurlec.com.au/LED/LED3RG.jsp. They are common cathode(negative).
If you think this is crazy(or that I am crazy, which I am ), see http://www.homebrewcpu.com/! That, there, is CRAZY. But awesome. Seriously, check that site out!
I am also thinking of putting capacitors and resistors in parallel with the LEDs, to add a little bit of fading (very subtle amount!). I could also have a single transistor active lowpass, but 32 of those seems just a liiittle bit complicated for such a small effect.
I have also thought of sticking a piezo element on each output and making a big mother clicky thing .
I apologise if this is hard to read and understand, and if it is too long, but like the rules say, better too much information then not enough, yet I still think i'm forgetting to say something crucial! I tried to do a bit of paragraphing and seperation, but well, i'm no good at neatness, just look at that simulator data! . Please help me if you can .
Feel free to yell at me if I did anything wrong! I also invite anyone to steal my idea, and you can sell it for millions (if anyone would buy it...), as long as you give me some credit for the idea (just write 'based on idea by doublebeta/Kyen Langton(my real name)).
EDIT: Wtf, forum removed my crappy paragraphing (three spaces before text)! Oh well.
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