Alright, this is it. We’re live. I’m starting a project called BoxLambda. Here’s the run-down, copied verbatim from the README.md:

BoxLambda is an open-source project with the goal of creating a retro-style FPGA-based microcomputer. The microcomputer serves as a platform for software and RTL experimentation.

BoxLambda is a software-hardware cross-over project. The plan is to provide room for experimentation both on the FPGA RTL side and on the software side.

Key Goals

• Create a sandbox for experimenting with software and (FPGA) HW.
  • Simplicity: It should be easy to jump in and do something: create, hack, tinker.
    • It should be doable for a single person to develop a good understanding of the entire system, software and hardware.
    • Deterministic Behavior: By design, it should be clear how long an operation, be it an instruction or a DMA transfer, is going to take.
    • Single User/Single Tasking OS booting to a console shell.
  • Create a Modular Architecture allowing for a mix-and-match of software and hardware components.
    • Support for partial FPGA reconfiguration.
• Target Hardware is Digilent’s Arty-A7 and/or the Nexys-A7.
• The computer should support the following peripherals:
  • Keyboard
  • Mouse (optional)
  • Joystick (optional)
  • Serial port
  • SD card storage
  • VGA Display
  • Audio output
• Sound and graphics should be sufficient to support retro-style 2D gameplay.

You can find the source code for BoxLambda on GitHub: https://github.com/epsilon537/boxlambda/.

Why?

Does the world need another retro-style computer? Probably not, but I do. I’m a software engineer and I’ve been studying FPGA development for about a year now, specifically for this project.

It’s an ambitious project and at least half of it (the FPGA half) is in a realm with which I have very little experience. I don’t know if the project will succeed. Maybe I’m too ambitious and too naive. We’ll see. This Blog will document the journey.

What’s up with that name, BoxLambda?

“Box”, as in, a physical box. “Lambda”, as in, an anonymous function, a software concept. It’s an attempt to convey that this project is both about hardware and software. Microsoft would have been a good fit too, but the name was taken.

Interesting Links

https://www.commanderx16.com : The Commander X16 is the 8-Bit Guy’s dream computer. This is the project that got me dreaming. I want to build a computer like this, but not exactly like this. I want to build my own.

OK, that’s enough for an introductory post I think. See you in the next one!