.
It seems several people over the years have taken up the challenge to build the "Simple-As-Possible" computer, from Malvino's 1992 book, Digital Computer Electronics.
I found tgmaxx/Tom's 38-chip build first: his writeup is here and includes two videos and full building instructions.
I found Kenneth Ellis McCall's in-browser emulator too, although I can't seem to get it to run any code(*). It may be a work-in-progress. He's got a couple of github projects - one for the emulator and one for an FPGA implementation.
(*) Edit: "It seems the trick is to flip PROG/RUN to RUN and AUTO/MAN to AUTO before pressing GO."
Stuart Martin is also making one, on breadboard, see here a photo. He notes that Ben Eater has a full set of instructional video posts, here:
Build an 8-bit computer from scratch
Also includes pointers to some videos laying the groundwork:
Quote:
f you want to dive into the details of how the computer works and understand it from first principles, but are a little unsure of how transistors and logic gates work (or just want a refresher), here’s a few videos to serve as an introduction:
- How semiconductors work
How a transistor works
Making logic gates from transistors
SR latch
D latch
D flip-flop
). I was amused to see the dead-front loading of the SAP-1 38-chip build, like a tiny PDP-8. I'd enjoy seeing further discussion in our dead-front-panel topic on 6502.org (or here too).