Breaking Taps
@breakingtaps.com
Material science, microfab, microscopy, machining. Mostly :)
Few tweaks left before the final deadline. Then it's off to the fab and we'll see if it works in three months!
Really hope there isn't a bug in the memory loader, otherwise it'll be DOA and not much to do about it. But even so, was a great learning experience!
Really hope there isn't a bug in the memory loader, otherwise it'll be DOA and not much to do about it. But even so, was a great learning experience!
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Few tweaks left before the final deadline. Then it's off to the fab and we'll see if it works in three months!
Really hope there isn't a bug in the memory loader, otherwise it'll be DOA and not much to do about it. But even so, was a great learning experience!
Really hope there isn't a bug in the memory loader, otherwise it'll be DOA and not much to do about it. But even so, was a great learning experience!
Chip was written in Spade HDL (spade-lang.org), which transpiles down to SystemVerilog. That's then fed into a LibreLane build process that turns the verilog into transistors. All open source!
Spade | Spade Hardware Description Language
spade-lang.org
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Chip was written in Spade HDL (spade-lang.org), which transpiles down to SystemVerilog. That's then fed into a LibreLane build process that turns the verilog into transistors. All open source!
Instruction set is pretty standard set of ALU, LSU, comparisons, branching, bit manip, etc. But I snuck in a few fun extras like a pseudorandom number generator, tanh and multiply-and-accumulate to try some light ML inference (rough plan is reservoir computing)
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Instruction set is pretty standard set of ALU, LSU, comparisons, branching, bit manip, etc. But I snuck in a few fun extras like a pseudorandom number generator, tanh and multiply-and-accumulate to try some light ML inference (rough plan is reservoir computing)
Clock speed is sorta up in the air. Still optimizing, but simulations say it should hit ~20MHz in all "process corners" (i.e. if the fab makes slow transistors and the chip is 125C hot). Probably faster in nominal case but we'll see
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Clock speed is sorta up in the air. Still optimizing, but simulations say it should hit ~20MHz in all "process corners" (i.e. if the fab makes slow transistors and the chip is 125C hot). Probably faster in nominal case but we'll see
I did manage to sneak in two small silicon art logos. Wish I had more time to put more on the chip but oh well!
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I did manage to sneak in two small silicon art logos. Wish I had more time to put more on the chip but oh well!
- Transport-triggered architecture
- ~20Mhz
- Two 32 bit data buses (i.e. two instructions per cycle)
- 1024 double slot instruction memory
- 256 word stack
- 4kb of general RAM
- 80 or so various instruction types
- 16 GPIO, SPI, UART, 8 bit parallel memory loader interface
- ~20Mhz
- Two 32 bit data buses (i.e. two instructions per cycle)
- 1024 double slot instruction memory
- 256 word stack
- 4kb of general RAM
- 80 or so various instruction types
- 16 GPIO, SPI, UART, 8 bit parallel memory loader interface
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
- Transport-triggered architecture
- ~20Mhz
- Two 32 bit data buses (i.e. two instructions per cycle)
- 1024 double slot instruction memory
- 256 word stack
- 4kb of general RAM
- 80 or so various instruction types
- 16 GPIO, SPI, UART, 8 bit parallel memory loader interface
- ~20Mhz
- Two 32 bit data buses (i.e. two instructions per cycle)
- 1024 double slot instruction memory
- 256 word stack
- 4kb of general RAM
- 80 or so various instruction types
- 16 GPIO, SPI, UART, 8 bit parallel memory loader interface
The last month of my life: BreakingTTAPs
This is a custom transport-triggered, 32 bit processor that will be fabricated by GlobalFoundries on their 180nm process (via of wafer.space)
I'll make a video at some point, but some high level details here:
This is a custom transport-triggered, 32 bit processor that will be fabricated by GlobalFoundries on their 180nm process (via of wafer.space)
I'll make a video at some point, but some high level details here:
December 4, 2025 at 2:51 PM
The last month of my life: BreakingTTAPs
This is a custom transport-triggered, 32 bit processor that will be fabricated by GlobalFoundries on their 180nm process (via of wafer.space)
I'll make a video at some point, but some high level details here:
This is a custom transport-triggered, 32 bit processor that will be fabricated by GlobalFoundries on their 180nm process (via of wafer.space)
I'll make a video at some point, but some high level details here:
I made a video about this! Laser deposition of aluminum, silver, copper, titanium, invar 36, niobium ITO and (sorta) zirconium.
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
May 25, 2025 at 7:48 PM
I made a video about this! Laser deposition of aluminum, silver, copper, titanium, invar 36, niobium ITO and (sorta) zirconium.
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Pretty nifty little technique. Not perfect, has some major disadvantages... but easy and reasonably robust!
youtu.be/J0NNO91WyXM
Am I west coasting correctly?
May 19, 2025 at 12:48 AM
Am I west coasting correctly?
This thing is pretty impressive in person 😯
May 18, 2025 at 5:42 PM
This thing is pretty impressive in person 😯
Had a long flight and finally got around to fully reading @benjaminreinhardt.com 's essay on DARPA, why it works, where it struggles, and how it might be replicated: blog.benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Ben Reinhardt
benjaminreinhardt.com
May 4, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Had a long flight and finally got around to fully reading @benjaminreinhardt.com 's essay on DARPA, why it works, where it struggles, and how it might be replicated: blog.benjaminreinhardt.com/wddw
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
Very thought provoking read. Been on my todo for ages, should have read sooner!
RIP NASA science missions 😢
May 3, 2025 at 11:00 AM
RIP NASA science missions 😢
The optimization field has the best names
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
May 2, 2025 at 12:32 PM
The optimization field has the best names
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
-Artificial Gorilla Troops Optimizer (GTO)
-Remora Optimization Algo (ROA)
-Polar Bear Optimization (PBO)
-Red Fox Optimization (RFO)
-Grey Wolf Optimization (GWO)
-Marine Predator Algo (MPA)
-African Vulture Optimization Algo (AVOA)
Ooh, didn't know that was a thing, will look into it!
April 28, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Ooh, didn't know that was a thing, will look into it!
Oh hai there, look what I found in the bin of childhood stuff my parents dropped off 👀
April 27, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Oh hai there, look what I found in the bin of childhood stuff my parents dropped off 👀
Strapping tensioner/sealer and kraft tape dispenser 😄
April 22, 2025 at 7:29 PM
Strapping tensioner/sealer and kraft tape dispenser 😄
Probably the two best things I've ever purchased
April 22, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Probably the two best things I've ever purchased
Yunno I never ended up testing it 😅
Pretty shortly after this I got the OM2a, and then moved shops so it got partially disassembled and stored under a table. And just never got back to it / never had a need for it.
It about tripled the weight, so probably would have helped!
Pretty shortly after this I got the OM2a, and then moved shops so it got partially disassembled and stored under a table. And just never got back to it / never had a need for it.
It about tripled the weight, so probably would have helped!
April 14, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Yunno I never ended up testing it 😅
Pretty shortly after this I got the OM2a, and then moved shops so it got partially disassembled and stored under a table. And just never got back to it / never had a need for it.
It about tripled the weight, so probably would have helped!
Pretty shortly after this I got the OM2a, and then moved shops so it got partially disassembled and stored under a table. And just never got back to it / never had a need for it.
It about tripled the weight, so probably would have helped!
Yep! It's gravel/sand mixed with epoxy (and some urethane because I ran out of epoxy). Added a ton of mass to the CNC frame for better cutting/vibration damping.
April 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Yep! It's gravel/sand mixed with epoxy (and some urethane because I ran out of epoxy). Added a ton of mass to the CNC frame for better cutting/vibration damping.
Shoutout to bad decisions that past BreakingTaps let future BreakingTaps sort out 😑
April 14, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Shoutout to bad decisions that past BreakingTaps let future BreakingTaps sort out 😑
brb starting a new channel called Breaking Bones
April 10, 2025 at 8:48 PM
brb starting a new channel called Breaking Bones
Who could have foreseen this?!
If only there had been some kind of temporary appropriation - let's call it a continuing resolution - that could have been used as a wedge. 🤔
Should probably call your senator Chuck to chat with them about this unfortunate circumstance!
If only there had been some kind of temporary appropriation - let's call it a continuing resolution - that could have been used as a wedge. 🤔
Should probably call your senator Chuck to chat with them about this unfortunate circumstance!
April 8, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Who could have foreseen this?!
If only there had been some kind of temporary appropriation - let's call it a continuing resolution - that could have been used as a wedge. 🤔
Should probably call your senator Chuck to chat with them about this unfortunate circumstance!
If only there had been some kind of temporary appropriation - let's call it a continuing resolution - that could have been used as a wedge. 🤔
Should probably call your senator Chuck to chat with them about this unfortunate circumstance!