Chad Burrow's Acolyte Hand PIC'd 32 Console Is Testament to Three Years' Experimentation

Math professor, vintage computing enthusiast, and maker Chad Burrow has concluded a three-year journey in building single-board computers with a compact "retraux" microcomputer slash video game console: the Acolyte Hand PIC'd 32.

"Inspired by The 8-Bit Guy's 'Dream Computer,' and after many initial attempts (aka failures) and a couple of awesome successes, I eventually produced the original Acolyte Computer using a [Western Design Center] W65C02 processor," Burrow explains of the beginnings of the Acolyte line. "I had great help from Garth Wilson and the guys on the 6502.org Forum as I worked through many prototypes to get to that point. I was able to display this and other projects at the Math Appreciation Day events playing video games such as Space Invaders, Tetris, and Rogue. From there, the project grew to the New Acolyte coupled with an [AMD] XC9572XL CPLD [Complex Programmable Logic Device], then the Acolyte '816 using a [WDC] W65C816 processor coupled with a [Microchip] PIC16F886 microcontroller as a bootloader."

Before all this began in late 2021, Burrow already had two decades of experience programming video games — but he had been well and truly bitten by the hardware bug at this point. Having found Microchip's PIC16F a pleasure to use, Burrow refocused on the company's line-up: the PIC18F47J13-powered Acolyte HAND PIC'd followed the Acolyte '816, and was then followed in turn by the PIC24EP512GP204-driven Acolyte Hand PIC'd 24 — the first version to drop the CPLD. "During Summer 2024," Burrow adds, "I programmed a 2-player Pokemon demo using Tuxemon art assets, pushing that PIC24 to the limit."

The Acolyte Hand PIC'd 32 is the latest in the line, with Burrow hoping it will serve as a standardized development platform for games and other projects to be showcased during future Math Appreciation Day events. It's powered, as you might expect, by a Microchip PIC32 — specifically the PIC32MZ2048EFH144, clocked at 200MHz — with 512kB of RAM and 2MB of flash ROM. An analog VGA video output delivers a maximum resolution of 800×600, of which 720×512 is typically usable, at 72Hz and 256 or 65,000 colors. There's stereo eight-bit audio, a dual-purpose PS/2 port for a keyboard and mouse, two nine-pin joystick ports compatible with Sega Genesis/Mega Drive controllers, and a USB port that can work with a keyboard, mouse, or Xbox 360 gamepad.

For software, Burrow has already written three applications: a scratchpad "proof-of-concept 'text editor'" that, in its present form, lacks the ability to save work or load existing files; Tetris, a clone of the popular falling-block game written for earlier PIC-powered devices; and AV Demo, which can play back 250×192-resolution video files at 15 frames per second, complete with 65,000 colors and stereo audio. Finally, Burrow has ported Mahyar Koshkouei's Peanut-GB Nintendo Game Boy emulator to the platform — "tested," Burrow says, "with many games including Tetris, Dr. Mario, Balloon Kid, Zelda: Link's Awakening, Tobu Tobu Girl, Pokémon Red, and Pokémon Kanto Expansion Pack."

The Acolyte Hand PIC'd 32 is documented in Burrow's GitHub repository, where design files and a 3D-printable case are provided under an unspecified license.