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MaxiMite: A BASIC Controller from Down Under — Parallax Forums

MaxiMite: A BASIC Controller from Down Under

ercoerco Posts: 20,259
edited 2011-08-20 00:28 in General Discussion
Looks interesting, especially the story page about a Texas grandmother writing the interpreter program and keeping the Osbourne diskette in her knitting bag...

Chip, can you top that?

http://geoffg.net/maximite.html
http://geoffg.net/Maximite_Story.html
http://www.dontronics-shop.com/maximite-sm1.html

from the first link:

The Maximite is a small and versatile computer running a full featured BASIC interpreter with 128K of working memory.

It will work with a standard VGA monitor and PC compatible keyboard and because the Maximite has its own built in SD memory card and BASIC language you need nothing more to start writing and running BASIC programs.

The Maximite also has also 20 input/output lines which can be independently configured as analog inputs, digital inputs or digital outputs. You can measure voltage, frequencies, detect switch closure, etc and respond by turning on lights, closing relays, etc - all under control of your BASIC program.

Comments

  • RavenkallenRavenkallen Posts: 1,057
    edited 2011-08-18 21:53
    Huh, that looks pretty interesting... I might have to look into it further. I hope the C3 will be used for stuff like that.
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2011-08-18 22:08
    Something like the Maximite was to be expected with the latest PIC32's. It's almost perfect for a retro style computer with it's 128k of Ram. All it really needs is some dedicated video processing hardware to speed up the display for video games. Maybe something like the Gamduino fpga, if done it would be a cool platform.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-08-19 02:15
    Not quite up to a Propeller yet - no color video. So I'd say Chip already topped it.

    It is easy to do B/W video with 20Mhz processors. And a Basic Interpreter has long been available if there is enough RAM. But this is neither the fastest nor the best, though it certainly is a nice handy form factor. Dontronics has been around for a long time and is well known in the PIC world.

    Video games? No color, so it is a Pong and Asteroid type device. Does it do vector graphics and bit-maped or is it only character driven video? The Hydra is still not fully exploited and is in many ways better.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-08-19 03:28
    It uses a single core chip. There's no comparison between it and the multi-core Propeller chip. Different leagues entirely.
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-08-19 03:31
    It's a lot more powerful, in some ways. Faster (80 MIPS), has much more memory, and some very nice peripheral functions. Development tools are better than those for the Propeller.
  • Martin_HMartin_H Posts: 4,051
    edited 2011-08-19 07:44
    Leon wrote: »
    It's a lot more powerful, in some ways. Faster (80 MIPS), has much more memory, and some very nice peripheral functions. Development tools are better than those for the Propeller.

    Everyone, there's a heretic in our midst!

    I'm kidding. I like the Propeller chip because it gives the feel of concurrent programming via a threads package, which is a higher semantic level than using interrupts. However, a fast single core chip can achieve the same result via timer based interrupts and a threading library. So there's more than one way to achieve the same result.
  • HumanoidoHumanoido Posts: 5,770
    edited 2011-08-19 07:54
    Martin_H wrote: »
    I like the Propeller chip because it gives the feel of concurrent programming via a threads package, which is a higher semantic level than using interrupts.
    Leon is always quite knowledgable about a wide selection of processors. It keeps everyone on their toes. The way I see it, eight of those single core chips could be used for $64 or one eight core Propeller for $8. Who ya gonna call?
  • LeonLeon Posts: 7,620
    edited 2011-08-19 08:20
    That's rubbish! For many applications a single PIC32 will work just as well as a Propeller, and could outperform it.
  • UnknownUnknown
    edited 2011-08-19 08:47
    They actually have five in stock? This computer has been sold out for months.
  • rod1963rod1963 Posts: 752
    edited 2011-08-19 09:52
    If you interface a Gameduino FPGA to it, you have a nice little video game system if that's your thing. It's doable since the Gameduino is open-source and doesn't cost much to implement.

    Otherwise it's a nice board for a hobbyist to tinker with.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2011-08-20 00:28
    I am not sure I'd want a BASIC interpreter. Can you save programs to file for reboot? Parallax usually compiles BASIC and loads faster, more compact tokens. We are comparing apples and bananas.

    The main attraction of a single core 128k memory is storage. It still doesn't do color video. I suppose you could ad a Gameduine FPGA front end to it, but why not add a Propeller front-end to do the video?

    Please don't get me wrong, for a complete Basic interpreter, it looks like an excellent choice. Dontronics has a good reputation.
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