14 Aug
2012
14 Aug
'12
1:20 p.m.
Personally, if I were in charge of keeping it running,
I'd rather have
the simulator. Not because it's easier to repair the hardware (on
that, I agree with you), but because the exact hardware is irrelevant:
I'm reasonably confident I can, if necessary, build a new simulator on
whatever the beagleboard/pi/etc du jour is. Until and unless it's no
longer possible to get logic-level inputs and outputs, I am confident I
can port a simulator to whatever I need to.
Hmm... My issue would be wit hthe interface to the 'panel'.
If you were doign this 10 years ago, most likely the simulator would run
on a PC, and you'd interface the panel to the parallel port. Possibly
bit-banging a serial data stream over a couple of the pins to talk to
shift registers driving the blinkenlights.
Today, msot likely you'd interface that panel to USB. I suspect that the
changes necessary (both hardware and software) to move from 'bit banged
on a parelel port; to 'USB' are considerable. Possible but nto trivial.
I suspect hat keeping the rela machine running is a lot easier.
-tony