Like a lot of embedded systems guys my age, I have a fondness for the computers of my youth. My first computer was an RCA 1802 computer derived from the old Popular Electronics magazine article way back in the late 70s when Dr. Dobb's was still printed on newspaper. Of course, the 1802 was popular in its day for embedded systems both because of its simplicity and its radiation hardened characteristics. The "Best Hardware Hack" entry from this year's Retrochallenge was an 1802 "Cosmac ELF" clone built on an FPGA. Given that I also like designing CPUs on FPGA, that appealed to me on several levels. What's the Retrochallenge? Its an annual event to have a month of work (or to quote the orgamizers, "stuff") with old computers. There were several other interesting "winning" projects. You can find them all at the Retrochallenge web site.

August 06, 2010
URL:http://www.drdobbs.com/embedded-systems/retrochallenge-2010-winner/228700991

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