Paragon Project: A Recycled Single-Board Computer
Want to become a computer wizard? Want to do it without being wasteful? This is the project that will inspire you to master computers on a super low-level, all while being a good environmentalist. You can do it all with this recycled single-board computer.
This wonderfully innovative project comes from Anders Nielsen, who calls it the “65uino”. Anders has posted the project over on Hackaday and we think that it undoubtedly qualifies as a Paragon Project.
The main idea is to build a single-board computer out of an Arduino and old integrated circuits. Best of all, Anders has made this project open-source, so you can build it and customize it as you see fit!
Hardware
Anders calls it the 65uino, because it’s pin-compatible with the Arduino Uno. And, indeed, the shape is clearly similar.
But Anders has created this customized printed circuit board and you can find the files on the GitHub page and then send off to a PCB house, like PCBWay. Alternatively, you could still just construct this on a breadboard, although that’ll only really serve as a temporary solution. But it would get the job done!
What’s great about it’s pin-compatibility with the Arduino Uno is that all the shields, modules, and adapters for the Arduino also will work with the 65uino.
The main idea is that the computer runs on the I2C bus, which only needs power, ground, sda (serial data), and scl (serial clock). If you’re interested in learning more about I2C, you can read our article on it here:
But suffice it to say that I2C
Anyway, this project revolves around 6 essential components: a 6507 microprocessor, a 28C16 EEPROM, a 6532 RAM-I/O-Timer, an LM1117 regulator, an MIC5504-3.3YM5 regulator, and a 74HC04 inverter integrated circuit.
The goal is to recycle, so get creative in where you find these and then comment below where you got yours!
Aside from those essential components, Anders uses a host of capacitors, resistors, and oscillators. Again, you can find a full list of components on the Hackaday page.
Software
The whole project runs on 6502 Assembly Code. This is the project that will help you master Assembly!
If you follow Anders build to the T, then you also will have an LED on the printed circuit board that you can blink using 6502 Assembly. And if you hook up an OLED display, you can set up your desired user interface (within limits, obviously).
And, as the old saying goes, everything is open-source if you know Assembly!
But this project is actually open-source, so feel free to play around with it as you please!
Conclusion
So there you have it, folks – a recycled single-board computer!
You can find more details about the project over on the Hackaday page. Or you can check out the GitHub page.
Meanwhile, check out more Paragon Projects that we’ve featured by clicking here!
What would you do with this computer?
Smart Communications