Thought I would start a new thread since I cannot see where there is one specifically for Mesecons computer builds. After stumbling upon some YouTube videos of Minecraft Redstone computer builds, I thought it might be cool to take a crack at it with Minetest Mesecons. I am by no means any expert at computer architecture, design, etc. so I'm learning as I go and hope to inspire my kids, who also enjoy playing Minetest to perhaps learn more about circuit design by playing with Mesecons too.
I'm getting my inspiration from Ben Eaters fantastic YouTube video series describing how to build an 8-bit breadboard computer. Obviously there are differences between building it on a breadboard and building it within Minetest, but my hope is that enough theory carries over as to make it a worthwhile endeavor. He does a great job of explaining first principles of circuit design and how complex circuits are built using discreet logic gates. As I progress through his series, I've been trying to recreate what he is doing in Minetest using the excellent Mesecons mod. My goal initially is to try to use Mesecons exclusively without relying on Digilines or other mods, but I'm open to using other mods if the architecture requires it.
I'll start with a small demo of some of the circuits used in Ben's computer. I posted this to the "Share your WorldEdit files" thread originally, but after giving it some thought decided to start a new thread since this will be specific to Mesecons (Digilines, etc) computer builds. I'm sure there are Minetest users out there with an actual education in computer science who could do something much more impressive than anything I will attempt. Even if you're just learning like me feel free to post the fruits of your labor here!
Name: Circuit Demo
Volume: 4104 (54*2*38)
Dependencies: Mesecons
Description: Some demos for different circuit types made for educational purposes. Lower row are made with all logic gates, middle row are the same circuits but using FPGAs and Microcontrollers to try and reduce the circuit size, and the upper row are the same circuits but using a single Luacontroller. Included circuits are:
- SR Latch
- SR Latch (gated)
- D Latch (gated)
- JK Latch (gated)
- JK Flip-Flop (master-slave)
- Full Adder