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A NUT is a 20 pin chip with thousand of applications. It is ideally suited for:
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The use of truth tables instead of a programming language is what makes NUT chips different. To enjoy a NUT chip you don't have to learn a programming language first. "For simple tasks I find more convenient the simplicity of a NUT rather than starting a full featured compiler with hundreds of details to take care of, even if I'm an experienced programmer".
NUT chips are simple and powerful (block diagram here):
NUT chips can be programmed in-circuit. That is, you can program the chip over and over even once soldered directly on its final circuit, making program developement a breeze. A NUT can be reprogrammed at least 10.000 times.
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Nutstation:
the software for NUT chips programming.
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Nutstation is the software (running on Win 95, 98 and NT) for programming NUT chips. Its purposely minimal interface allows for load/save/print truth tables, easily edit them, select your preferred remote control (if used), then program the chip. The software includes HTML documentation with detailed examples and working projects. It is shareware and you can use it for up to three months free of charge. After that period it is still fully functional but you are requested to pay a fee to continue using it.
Publishing software listings is a
real trouble for Editors. Listings serve to explain the inner workings, but
they make the magazine looking like the yellow pages. A typical NUT chip truth
table is not longer than a printed page. This makes a NUT an ideal component
for designing applications to be published in magazines. Truth tables drill
down to the essential, making it possible to expose and explain them in the
scarce space allowed for an article.
NUTs are state machines. Compared to microcontrollers they are significantly simpler and easier to master. Straight from 0-1 logic and through state tables, the NUT chips allow for the fast, early, no-frills approach to programming. They allow for immediate practical applications, an invaluable support when teching abstract concepts as digital communications, remote controls, state machines theory.
For an electronic enthusiast, to
assemble a kit is only half the fun. The other half is to modify it to adapt
to his own application, to understand how it works, to see "what if".
Recent kits suffer from the blackbox syndrome: one specialized IC, input and
output connectors. No modifications, no understanding, no fun. The lack
of general purpose parts affects vendors too, forcing them to store thousands
of costly, very specialized components.
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