Run DOOM on an NES by embedding a Raspberry Pi in the cartridge

[rasteri]

Hi all, I just released my project - https://github.com/rasteri/PiPU

It's a method of using a Raspberry Pi as a graphics accelerator for the NES. It uses Cypress Semiconductor's FX2LP High-speed USB controller to hijack the NES' graphics memory bus, and inject video data directly into the NES' picture processing unit.

In the github there's the graphics translation code, as well as the firmware for the FX2LP and the 6502 code for the NES' CPU.

Here's a video going into more detail :

[Bicurico]

Congratulations!!! Very cool project and nicely done.
Also, let me tell you that I am impressed by your comments during the video. Fast but not too fast and very clear and understandable.
Just one question. How long did it take you from initial idea to finished project?

Regards,
Vitor

[T3sl4co1l]

Hah, saw it on YT recommended before seeing it here!  Fantastic piece of work!

Tim

[rasteri]

Thanks for your kind words!

How long did it take you from initial idea to finished project?

I got the idea about two years ago, but I took a long break in between. It was one of these projects where it was bubbling away in the background for a long time, and eventually I'd made so much progress that abandoning it would be a bigger waste of time than just finishing it, haha.

[coromonadalix]

 Very clever idea, im impressed   congrats

[SiliconWizard]

It's a method of using a Raspberry Pi as a graphics accelerator for the NES. It uses Cypress Semiconductor's FX2LP High-speed USB controller to hijack the NES' graphics memory bus, and inject video data directly into the NES' picture processing unit.

So is the video data streamed from the RPi through USB?

[rasteri]

So is the video data streamed from the RPi through USB?

Yeah exactly. The USB bus is ideal for this kind of thing as (unlike most of the other RPi buses) it has great library support. The FX2 is flexible enough to emulate memory, if you ignore the address bus.

Also it meant I could prototype everything on my Linux desktop PC instead of the Pi.