I am used to play with computers since 1985, when I had a Commodore 64. In 1986 I started in interfacing my C64 with most peripherals, such as an AD converter based on the ADC0809 chip. Then I bought an 8088 IBM XT compatible (Olidata PC-816). It came with schematic diagram and BIOS source listing! So I was able to adapt all interfaces, which I built for C64, to its ISA BUS. I, also, rewrote part of its BIOS for supporting VGA instead of Hercules. Some time later, I put together my very first computer system: a trivial nano-computer based on the 6510 chip, with 8K RAM, 8K ROM, some leds and switches. In the picture below, I used my PC as logic-analyser and wave-scope to test my just assembled nano-computer.
I tried also to project a Video Adapter based on the Texas TMS34010. I found much help on
literature which Texas Instruments distributes at very low price. My main problems to dial with were:
the printed circuit board, wich was too complex to make on 1 layer, and the lack of a PAL programmer.
Only now I know that my circuit would have not worked, because some aspects dealing with
high frequencies involved in the project.
When I bought a 386, my interest was attracted by Computer Graphics: expecially Ray-Tracing - thank you David! - DKB, POVRay;
Image processing and, some time later, Virtual Reality. So I interfaced my PC with a PowerGlove and soon I projected an HMD,
which would have consisted
in 2 LCD-Televisions controlled by 2 SVGA and mounted over an helmet for motor-cycle. I never completed this,
because of the cost of the 2 TVs and the cost of the 2 VGA-PAL adapter needed. Finally, I'd no idea of
how to build an head movement tracker.
Later I started writing a ray-tracer but, since the time-consuming activity of
testing the very first unoptimized prototypes, I dropped the project.
So my interest fell on Transputers, but I never saw one, so... my next interest was on the i860 RISC processor, that I knew by the reading of a book by Margulis. Finally The Cube went to light and I liked it so much, that now I'm a NeXTSTEP user.
Now I have a Pentium on which runs NeXTSTEP 3.2 and Windows 95 while I'm attracted by Alpha workstation.
My last work (by now) was about Fractal Image Compression: an udergraduate student work for the 1995 microelectronics course.
Then I went on the Internet, hosted by one of my best friends: Valerio Verrando.
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Giovambattista Pulcini
Last Revised: April, 1997 - ver. 2.01