Requested mod: KGC, Apollo Guidance Computer for KSP

[jwbrase]

I really like the concept of kOS, especially combined with RemoteTech, but it works at a rather higher level of abstraction than I'd like. Rather than having a high-level interpreted language ready to accept user input from square one, it would be fun to have a programmable autopilot mod that focused on assembly-level programming of an emulated CPU, where if you want an in-flight interpreted scripting language, you have to write it. Ideally, such a mod would have different CPUs at different places on the tech tree with architectures exposing more and more useful features, but it would probably be good to do a single-CPU mod with no tech tree first as a proof of concept.

 

So my idea for a starting point would be an emulation of the Apollo Guidance Computer, or else an architecture heavily inspired by it. It would be really fun to be able to write software for a Munar landing on top of the historical AGC architecture (of course, the architecture of the computer's I/O to spacecraft systems would probably have to be entirely redesigned to fit general KSP craft instead of the specific hardware of the historical CSM and LEM, but otherwise a fairly faithful reproduction of the instruction set and memory bank switching architecture could probably be done).

 

Does anybody think this sounds like a fun project?
 

[Drew Kerman]

for your consideration

 

Edited June 15, 2016 by Gaiiden

[jwbrase]

That looks like a workalike of the AGC software in Python. What I'm suggesting is a workalike of the AGC hardware, for which one could write arbitrary software that need not correspond to the historical AGC software.