It’s nicely documented that Raspberry Pi has helped many elderly computer systems to do greater than they have been ever designed to do, and this venture from Darko Mesaros permits a 37 yr previous TRS-80 Mannequin 102 transportable pc to deploy Kubernetes.
Lets be clear, the TRS-80 Mannequin 102 (also called the Tandy 102) does not have the horsepower to deploy and run Kubernetes. However what it may possibly do is turn out to be a terminal over a distant connection. To do that, Mesaros wanted a bit assist to get on-line and used a WiModem32 related to the TRS-80’s RS232 serial port. This serial Wi-Fi modem is basically an ESP32 that makes use of previous model modem instructions to make connections to modern-day Wi-Fi gadgets. Utilizing the TRS-80’s built-in terminal utility (TELCO), Mesaros was in a position to set the baud fee to 300 after which situation an AT command to attach the gadget to their WI-FI AP.
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That is the place the Raspberry Pi comes into the story. The Raspberry Pi is used as a Telnet server. Mesaros configures the TRS-80 to hook up with the Telnet server, and from there they’ve entry to a full Linux OS, one that’s greater than able to deploying Kubernetes.
The TRS-80 Mannequin 102 is famed for its kind issue and keyboard. Journalists of the period would write out their copy then ship it to the information room utilizing a built-in modem and an acoustic coupler (Similar to within the film Wargames). On the time, the 32KB of RAM and Intel 80C85 CPU have been sufficient for journalists within the area. Add to {that a} 20-hour run time on 4 AA batteries, and you’ll see why the Tandy 102 was the go-to transportable gadget of its time.
The venture is extra for enjoyable than sensible, but it surely reveals how the retro group is embracing fashionable applied sciences (Raspberry Pi and ESP32) to boost and produce new options to their retro tech.