555 Video Game
posted Feb 24th 2011 7:05am by Kevin Dadyfiled under: video hacks
[Thrashbarg] is back up to some 555 timer madness again, this time with his sort of dodge ball video game. Featuring twenty three 555 timers, op amps (the LM324) and atari paddles slightly modded so the pots act as voltage dividers.
Output is on a monochrome composite tv signal, and the game plays like a dodge ball game where the object is to avoid the ball and take out the other player. You can also launch your own ball and deflect the oncoming attack. When hit the defeated player disappears from the screen for 3 seconds and then another round starts.
On a personal note this project hits close to home, as the project I had planned was a 555 based pong game, and just days before the deadline all I have is a wobbly sync generator, so seeing something close to what I had imagined, and working, makes me smile and feel a little better about my mental status.
Check out a short video after the break, and [Thrashbarg's] previous 555 project, The Synthanola.
This project is very impressive. The familiarity of analog electronics required is staggering.
However, the real accomplishment of this contest is to make me very grateful for modern electronics and microcontrollers.
So this is how people got things done 20 years ago. It’s like an electronics archeological study.