A 2nd year project back in the day was to build a 4 bit CPU on a breadboard. We had the advantage of having an ALU IC but was still quite tough to get working!
You were in good company. The Xerox Alto CPU used four 74181 ALUs.
Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
21–30 of 53 posts
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#22[dead]
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#23>>me and my friends ...
My friends and I...
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#24So this was all just simulated? Where are the pictures of the build?
Back in the day i built a 4-bit CPU on a breadboard (it was huge actually spanned 3 breadboards). Programming the ROM by hand like cavemen (to be fair it was the cave ages). We didn’t carry cameras in our pockets so sadly we didn’t get a picture.
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#25So this was all just simulated? Where are the pictures of the build? Back in the day i built a 4-bit CPU on a breadboard (it was huge actually spanned 3 breadboards). Programming the ROM by hand like cavemen (to be fair it was the cave ages). We didn’t carry cameras in our pockets so sadly we didn’t get a picture.
My "back in the day" project, which everyone in class (could work in team up to 3) had to do was a wirewrapped breadboarded 8-bit CPU. We had to demonstrate it solving some problem. Extra points for doing something with an I/O channel.
At the end, my team drew straws to see who would get to keep it. Alas, I didn't win.
CMU in 1986.
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#26>>me and my friends ... My friends and I...
If you're going to be a pointless language pedant, it really helps if you don't fuck it up.
OP said:
> me and my friends together built an 8 bit CPU…
– and if one replaces that with your suggestion:
> My friends and I together built an 8 bit CPU…
– you'll find that you are, gleefully, wrong.
For those unaware, the simplest test for 'me and x' vs. 'x and I' is that, in the latter case, you should be able to remove 'x and', and have the sentence still make sense.
For example, 'Me and Lucy went to the shops' is technically incorrect, because 'Lucy and I went to the shops' makes sense if we remove Lucy. 'I went to the shops'.
The pendant's adjustment fails this test:
> I together built an 8 bit CPU
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#27So this was all just simulated? Where are the pictures of the build? Back in the day i built a 4-bit CPU on a breadboard (it was huge actually spanned 3 breadboards). Programming the ROM by hand like cavemen (to be fair it was the cave ages). We didn’t carry cameras in our pockets so sadly we didn’t get a picture.
I did the same (4-bit cpu, 11 instructions) in my Microprocessors class, out of 74-series logic, one GAL20V8 to handle the SLE instruction and an EPROM (not an EEPROM - one with the clear window you exposed to UV light to erase.
That was also where I learned about ground-bounce & dynamic IR-drop effects due to those long looping wires between breadboards.
That was a fun class.
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#28amazing 2nd year i was playing starcraft all day
You'd learn a similar amount doing this project with AI
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#29>>me and my friends ... My friends and I...
If you're going to be a pointless language pedant, it really helps if you don't fuck it up. OP said: > me and my friends together built an 8 bit CPU… – and if one replaces that with your suggestion: > My friends and I together built an 8 bit CPU… – you'll find that you are, gleefully, wrong. For those unaware, the simplest test for 'me and x' vs. 'x and I' is that, in the latter case, you should be able to remove 'x…
Obviously one needs a lesson in English sentence construction. I had those lessons beginning in grade school and ended in college. I'm not sure you've had anything beyond the internet.
Re: Show HN: We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students
#30>>me and my friends ... My friends and I...
If you're going to be a pointless language pedant, it really helps if you don't fuck it up. OP said: > me and my friends together built an 8 bit CPU… – and if one replaces that with your suggestion: > My friends and I together built an 8 bit CPU… – you'll find that you are, gleefully, wrong. For those unaware, the simplest test for 'me and x' vs. 'x and I' is that, in the latter case, you should be able to remove 'x…
Me together built... doesn't make sense either