Adds a new way to use the retro CPU chips: write your program in a
project file (.s / .asm / .hex / .bin), click Compile, click Run, and
the same chip emulates whatever you wrote. Same chip + different ROMs =
mini PC, calculator, LED demo, Kill-the-Bit game, etc.
SDK:
- velxio-chip.h gets two new host imports:
uint32_t vx_rom_size(void);
void vx_rom_read(uint32_t off, uint8_t* dst, uint32_t len);
CPU-emulator chips call these in chip_setup to pull their program out
of the host's romBytes property.
Frontend runtime:
- ChipRuntime accepts opts.romBytes (Uint8Array) and exposes the new
imports, copying bytes into chip memory on vx_rom_read.
- CustomChipPart pulls component.properties.romBytes (base64) and passes
it through.
- Component registry declares three new custom-chip properties:
romBytes (base64), programFile (matching project filename), and
programTarget (cpu name).
New programmable bundled chip:
- frontend/src/components/customChips/examples/intel/i8080-cpu.{c,chip.json}
Same clean-room 8080 emulator as i8080-repl/i8080-counter, but ROM is
loaded externally via vx_rom_*. Has 8 LEDs, 8 buttons, UART, 16 KB RAM,
32 KB of external ROM.
Backend:
- New /api/compile-rom endpoint and rom_compile service that turns
chip-program source into ROM bytes. 8080 ASM is assembled by the
in-tree two-pass assembler (moved to backend/app/services/asm8080.py).
Intel HEX records are parsed; raw .bin is passed through. Future targets
(z80, 8086, 4004) are scaffolded but not wired yet.
EditorToolbar:
- Compile button detects when the active file is .s/.asm/.hex/.bin and
routes to compile-rom instead of arduino-cli. The compiled bytes are
injected into every custom-chip on the canvas whose programFile property
matches the active filename (or is empty).
Example:
- /examples/i8080-killbits loads Dean McDaniel's 1975 Kill-the-Bit on
the programmable i8080-cpu chip. killbits.s is shipped as a project
file alongside sketch.ino; the user clicks Compile then Run and the
LED walks across 8 outputs, buttons kill it.
Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
- Implemented `esp32_spi_chip_demo.ino` to demonstrate SPI communication with a 74HC595 shift register.
- Created `esp32_uart_chip_demo.ino` for UART loopback testing with ROT13 transformation.
- Added Python tests for compiling chips and sketches, ensuring valid WASM output and successful compilation for various board families.
- Developed end-to-end tests for ESP32 with custom chips using I2C and SPI, validating synchronous communication through the backend.
- Introduced GPIO bridge tests to verify serial communication and GPIO state changes.
- Ensured all tests validate the expected behavior of the custom chips and their interaction with the ESP32 firmware.
David Montero Crespo