[etoys-dev] Toy computers

[karl ramberg]

Here is a circuit simulator made in java. More advanced than the one in Etoys

http://www.falstad.com/circuit/

Karl

On Sat, Oct 8, 2011 at 6:27 PM, karl ramberg <karlramberg at gmail.com> wrote:
> I have not tested this game, but it seems pretty cool.
> Simulates chemistry, but it could just as well be a cpu.
> http://spacechemthegame.com/
>
> Karl
>
> On Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 12:12 AM, Jecel Assumpcao Jr.
> <jecel at merlintec.com> wrote:
>> David,
>>
>> the problem with your plastic logic toy was that it had a single level.
>> Simple projects were simple and understandable, but more complicated
>> ones would get out of hand. In the same way, I feel that the solution is
>> to have a sequence of Etoys projects where what you build in one is a
>> basic block in another. You can either go bottom up (better for concrete
>> thinkers) or top down (abstract thinkers like this).
>>
>> Here is a college level course that does this:
>>
>> http://www.cs.huji.ac.il/course/2006/nand2tet/
>>
>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtXvUoPx4Qs (10 minute video)
>>
>> http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7654043762021156507 (61 minute
>> video)
>>
>> Starting with NAND and building everything on that is cute from a
>> mathematical viewpoint, but it I would start by showing the basic gates
>> in terms of switches and lamps (there is an Etoys project for this, I
>> think) or in terms of colored rectangles for CMOS chips (perhaps this
>> could be done in Kedama in a reasonable way).
>>
>> Their processor is really pathetic, but they only use it to implement a
>> Java-like virtual machine and then use that from then on. The Squeak VM
>> could be used as an alternative, but it is very complicated compared to,
>> for example, the one in Little Smalltalk.
>>
>> Chuck Thacker's TinyComputer designs are simply wonderful, but by
>> implementing it as a very compact Verilog description there is just too
>> much magic for someone who hasn't seen the logic gates and lower levels.
>> There is no reason not to implement it as a schematic, however.
>>
>> I have a very long list of educational processors you can look at, if
>> you want. Some have been implemented in TTLs, others in FPGAs and still
>> others just as simulators running on PCs. Here is one of my favorites:
>>
>> http://www.bradrodriguez.com/papers/piscedu2.htm
>>
>> -- Jecel
>>
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>