DUO Portable: A Homebrew Computer With Keyboard And Display

duo

[Jack] is famous ’round these parts for his modern reinterpretations of very early computers. He’s created a computer entirely out of logic chips, a microcontroller-powered multicore box, and even a very odd one-instruction computer. For his latest project, he’s stepped up his game and made something that’s actually fairly useful: a microcontroller-powered system with an integrated keyboard and display.

The DUO Portable, as [Jack] calls his new toy, is built around an ATMega1284P microcontroller. Also on this board is a serial EEPROM that acts as a very small drive, a 102×64 pixel graphic display, and enough tact switches to create a QWERTY keyboard.

The DUO Portable boots to a primitive operating system where files can be created, edited, and saved. The programming language for this computer  is called DCPL – the DUO Portable Command Language – and can be used to create anything from a simple ‘Hello World’ program to a block-building game.

Like all of [Jack]’s homebrew computer projects, he’s written an emulator that can be run in a browser. There’s also video of [Jack] playing around with the DUO Portable available below.

If you’re wondering what music [Jack] is using for this video, I found it. It’s an Atari POKEY.

17 thoughts on “DUO Portable: A Homebrew Computer With Keyboard And Display

    1. i believe there’s something like this, but it’s just an add-on board to a quickstart board that has a vga port, ps2 port and audio

      .. oh just looked it up, it was called the pocket mini computer,.. also has a place for sd card and a wii nunchuck controller

      don’t know if anyplace still sells it

  1. Great build! The PCB even has a “vintage” feel to it (and I mean that in the best possible way :).

    Too bad there was only enough room for the Sinclair/Mac-esque single-row arrow keys… I guess with time and practice they’re probably okay, but I’ve been using an “inverted-T” for too long (and I’ve never been that good with my pinkies).

  2. What a great design – the low complexity and long straight lines along with the full keyboard make it very aesthetically pleasing.

    We need to get this guy a 3D printer so he can print out a case and bring it with him on the go. It’s great because it’s already battery-powered.

Leave a Reply to truthspewCancel reply

Please be kind and respectful to help make the comments section excellent. (Comment Policy)

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.