[HN Gopher] Ray Tracing for the TI-84 CE
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Ray Tracing for the TI-84 CE
Author : AndyJames
Score : 168 points
Date : 2022-02-10 16:28 UTC (6 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (github.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (github.com)
| avipars wrote:
| and i thought there was no innovations in the TI84 space, the
| calculator hasn't changed in practically 2 decades
| isomel wrote:
| GitHub claim this is 93% C and 3.8% C++, despite it being
| entirely in C++ (and a bit of ASM). I guess GitHub just consider
| that a .h file is a C file
| flohofwoe wrote:
| Yes, github's language detection is definitely messed up,
| especially in the C language family. A while ago, a C or C++
| source file would be detected as Objective-C if you had a
| variable called "id" (I think that's been fixed though).
| Raineer wrote:
| To add to that, Github reads Arduino code as C++.
|
| I know it's not truly this simple, but if the file extension
| is ".ino", I feel like your detection algorithm should be
| free to use that as a massive indication it is Arduino code.
| pragmatic8 wrote:
| ...but Arduino code IS c++ code. I don't believe a
| distinction would make much sense.
| wubbert wrote:
| When I saw that comment on /g/ about raytracincing on the TI-84
| the other day, I just knew someone would post something like this
| here in a couple days.
| azinman2 wrote:
| What's /g/?
| atomlib wrote:
| 4chan's technology board. You will never find a more wretched
| hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious.
| gmmeyer wrote:
| I think it's a 4chan board
| gonzoflip wrote:
| An image board where people compare riced desktops.
| phist_mcgee wrote:
| fyi the word 'rice' in that context comes from a pretty bad
| pejorative.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_burner
| D1nkleberg wrote:
| I believe they are refering to the 4chan technology posting
| board. https://boards.4channel.org/g/
| D1nkleberg wrote:
| I believe they are refering to the 4chan technology posting
| board.
|
| https://boards.4channel.org/g/
| ajsfoux234 wrote:
| The only recent comment I could find about raytracing on
| calculators on /g/ mentions a TI-86, and was posted after this
| repo was created, but before it was posted on HN (I used a
| 4chan archive to search for the comment):
| https://boards.4channel.org/g/thread/85596005/2-cores-4-thre...
| sockpuppet69 wrote:
| lolinder wrote:
| This YouTuber did a simpler version _years_ ago, this is a
| followup.
|
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=todarS6XTPc
| andy0x2a wrote:
| Ray tracing at 5fph, not bad at all for the hardware. I am
| impressed that this is even possible with a calculator
| krallja wrote:
| With an eZ80 and color screen, it's much more like a feature
| phone without a SIM card than a pure calculator.
| pavlov wrote:
| Feature phones have been using low-end ARM for past 20 years,
| at least. The Z80 is a particularly old CPU.
| flohofwoe wrote:
| The eZ80 is quite a different beast than the original Z80
| though :)
| _joel wrote:
| About 3x quicker at the same frequency and the
| performance is comparable to a Z80 clocked at 150 MHz if
| fast memory
|
| ... according to wikipedia!
| mywittyname wrote:
| > comparable to a Z80 clocked at 150 MHz
|
| Calculate like it's 1994.
| kragen wrote:
| That's enormously faster than I was getting on a 286-12 with
| POVRay, which was more like 0.05 fph.
| chunkyks wrote:
| This is awesome. A bit of self-promotion: I, too, wrote a
| deliberately obtuse raytracer:
| https://github.com/chunky/sqlraytracer
| Rodeoclash wrote:
| Amazing!
| alligatorplum wrote:
| that poor calculator
| Tijdreiziger wrote:
| Hey, if the TI-84 is too slow for you, you can always overclock
| it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l06PlYNShpQ
| MerelyMortal wrote:
| It might have been interesting, but it was so annoying with
| all the time-wasting "fun" stuff, that I stopped watching. I
| bet they could have easily made that 12 minute video into a 4
| or less minute video. The video makers basically don't care
| about their viewers and want to monetize their attention,
| pathetic.
|
| I got as far in that video to where one of the guys shouts
| about his "meaningless victory".
|
| Meaningless indeed. Thanks Linus Tech Tips.
| bragr wrote:
| TIL: The TI-84 got an upgrade since I was in school. I guess it
| was time to trade in that best of 1985 technology for the best of
| 2005 :)
| bragr wrote:
| Looking at the newer models, it is pretty neat they can run
| Python. Some of my earliest programming experiences were
| playing with TI basic on my TI84 while bored in class so it is
| nice to see them stay relevant in that regard for today's
| students.
| boricj wrote:
| Python on the TI-84 series is run on a separate ARM
| Cortex-M0+ micro-controller with 256 KiB of Flash and 32 KiB
| of RAM, hooked to the ASIC with what appears to be a UART. In
| other words, it's just about the worst performing Python
| implementation in a graphical calculator to date:
| https://www.cemetech.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=285853#285853
| (alongside a rant about removal of C/ASM support, some points
| about it being outdated).
| wanderer_ wrote:
| Not really an upgrade... the Silver Edition (the earlier one)
| was just built better. I seem to remember a student who left
| one on the roof of his car when leaving school... It not only
| survived the fall, but was just fine the next day.
|
| Not to mention the fact that the newer software (from which you
| cannot downgrade) introduced a significant lag / delay, even on
| the same hardware.
| don-code wrote:
| I have a hard time calling these "upgrades". I had a TI-83 (not
| Plus) in high school - the Plus gave us ROM, the TI-84 gave us
| USB, and the TI-84 CE gave us a color screen, which are all
| creature comforts at best. It's on par with what we'd think of
| "upgrades" circa Apple II -> Apple IIe.
|
| I _would_ call moving from a TI-83 to the TI nSpire CAS an
| upgrade - there's a whole host of things that the nSpire can do
| which the TI-83 can't, like symbolic calculations and matrix
| math with complex values. I'd also bet it can emulate a TI-84
| faster than a native TI-84.
| Pulcinella wrote:
| I have a nSpire CAS. While those features are really, really
| good, it does have a significant flaw compared to older
| graphic calculators (including the TI-89, which is probably
| more of a predecessor to the nSpire CAS than the 84 is as the
| 89 also has CAS): actual boot up time.
|
| The 84 and 89 are instant on while the nSpire has significant
| boot time. I guess you are suppose to leave it on but let it
| "sleep" like a modern smartphone, but the battery life is bad
| even when the screen is off. I'm not sure how the 84 CE
| compares, if it's "just" and 84 with color or it's something
| much more modern locked to running an 84 emulator.
| Raineer wrote:
| The boot-up time is really a killer. I also just can not
| get used to the input/keyboard of the nSpire.
|
| My actual workflow is to use DM42/HP-35s for anything I can
| do with those, and if it's more complicated, I'd rather
| launch Octave or MATLAB. I just can't make my nSpire work
| for me.
| Shared404 wrote:
| > I _would_ call moving from a TI-83 to the TI nSpire CAS an
| upgrade
|
| Having used all of TI-83, TI-84, and TI nSpire, I can say
| that unless you need and are allowed to use the CAS portion
| of the nSpire, it is a downgrade in almost every way.
|
| In calculus, I could be done with a calculation on the TI-83
| before my classmates in on the nSpire even got to the
| relevant screen - the UI makes molasses look fast. It may
| have more features, but at least at high school levels, you
| just straight up don't need them.
| arjvik wrote:
| If you're nostalgic about your old engineering RPN calculator, or
| would just like to use your Ti-84+CE more efficiently, check out
| https://git.io/ti84rpn - it let's you quickly switch in and out
| of reverse polish notation mode.
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