Richard Oliver MSc Dissertation 2015/16

Software for a Retro Computer Platform

Supervised by A.Simons

Abstract

Low-cost Single Board Computers, including Arduino  and Raspberry Pi, are incredibly useful and popular today. Enormous quantities are made and sold every year worldwide. They have professional uses and have become popular teaching aids for inspiring the engineers of tomorrow, with some manufacturers placing their technology into schools, such as the BBC micro:bit.

LogicaTronics  Limited has created a new Single Board Computer which uses a classic microprocessor design. Known as the Yorkshire- Pud , in line with the amusing trend for electronic products named after foodstuffs, it hopes to become popular with the nostalgia and education markets.

The COM6910 Dissertation Project focussed  upon an open-ended software development to enable the existing hardware of Yorkshire- Pud  Z80. This delivered the Little Mesters  Workshop IDE, a tool for creating user applications that run on the Yorkshire- Pud . The development contributes to a much larger, multi-faceted commercial venture, which shall continue after the author completes his MSc  course.

This document explains the rationale of the venture and the current state of the development.