The purpose of this project is to provide an emulation of the on-board Apollo guidance computers, along with some ancillary items needed to make the emulation do something interesting. "AGC" stands for Apollo Guidance Computer. The AGC was the principal on-board computer for NASA's Apollo missions, including all of the lunar landings.
For a comprehensive exposition of the technical aspects of the AGC, look no further than the Ultimate Apollo Guidance Computer Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xx7Lfh5SKUQ
They not only do a brilliant job of exposing this niche system, but it is a foundational lecture for my knowledge of computer architecture in general
AGC is one of the classic computers that would be great to see reproduced with the original controls and UI, but with modern ICs at a budget price. Similar to NES classic re-release.
Check the YouTube series from @CuriousMarc, with the modern DSKY made by Ben Krasnow (@AppliedScience). They restored an original AGC, but used a gate-level accurate FPGA for testing. I believe the source is available, not 100%, but for sure Ben’s DSKY plans are available. Uses modern power and comms, but implements the original fluorescent on glass display tech.
I am willing to pay to have the physical interface built if anyone with the machinist/electrical engineering skills is interested. My vision is to have the screen and button interface built, with a Raspberry Pi powering it. Reply if interested.
Is this the same software Curious Marc is using to emulate a DSKY/AGC for their apollo comms project? Or are they using something custom spun up to support the hardware they are working on?
"Mike Stewart has developed gate accurate FPGA replicas of the AGC and its test hardware. It represents a massive amount of work. If you are Mike, you can use it to fly the real missions, and simulate every signal in the AGC. Making this work is not for the faint or heart and requires intimate understanding of the AGC hardware and software. We offer no instructions and no support."
For the communications project specifically (and also a couple of other projects we have going on), I combined the FPGA AGC and the Monitor into a single design that runs on a Digilent Cmod A7-35T: https://github.com/thewonderidiot/cmod_agc
It's a lot cheaper and more accessible in this form, and much easier to integrate into projects that need AGC stand-ins.
Aside from the FPGA design though, yeah, all of the AGC software and the assembler is in the VirtualAGC repository.
Mike Stewart, that is the one with the most in depth knowledge about the AGC on the Curious Marc channel, is also one of the main contributors to this repo, so I guess so.
What I would give to have something like this in my car. Toggle switches and tactile push buttons. Solid, easily-readable heads-up display in the windscreen or above the dash, even if it was just 7/14-segment readouts, would be better than a touchscreen navigation computer.
Orbiter has had modules using this for more than a decade so I see no reason why it can't be done for Kerbal other than nobody on the Kerbal side wants to do the work.
They not only do a brilliant job of exposing this niche system, but it is a foundational lecture for my knowledge of computer architecture in general