Uncommon uses for VIC-20s

[CommodoreZ]

What is the most unexpected, unique, or otherwise novel application or task you've seen applied to a VIC-20.

The question crossed my mind, and I figured it was worth posting here. Most folks I imagine used one for video games and basic productivity software in its heyday. It's a versatile platform, sure, but some tasks are more common than others. I've heard stories of VICs used for experimenting with robots (one was a self-contained K9 replica), home automation, acting as a printer buffer for a C64, serving as a BBS, programming and displaying demos, and acting as a terminal, just to name a few less common use cases. Obviously some of these are now commonplace for those of us immersed heavily within the hobby.

But I want to hear about situations involving the VIC-20 doing things that seemed less suited to the hardware at first glance, even if in hindsight it was adequate for the job. Pictures would be the icing on the proverbial cake.

[brain]

[M]ovable
[O]ff
[R]oad
[T]ransport
or M.O.R.T. for short

Not sure if it meets your criteria, but it was a labor of love. Always unfinished, and I still have it (disassembled, I need to re-assemble it). It ran on a 12V car battery and used windshield wiper motors for the driveline. I used the VIC-20 because it would run off DC (the 64 needed AC) and it was easier for me to interface, as Radio Shack solder the 22/44 .156 cards and I found a nice 22/44 card cage that I was able to modify to support the long cards Radio Shack sold.
Hand soldered breadboarded pulse width modulated (PWM) drive electronics using counters and a comparators connected to registers located in the memory map.
It did not do much or do it well, but I am proud of it.

Jim

[srowe]

I've heard stories of VICs used for experimenting with robots (one was a self-contained K9 replica), home automation, acting as a printer buffer for a C64, serving as a BBS, programming and displaying demos, and acting as a terminal, just to name a few less common use cases.

Here's the article about K9

https://snarpco.com/k9/

[CommodoreZ]

Not sure if it meets your criteria, but it was a labor of love.

That's awesome! This is precisely the sort of thing I was hoping for.

Here's the article about K9

https://snarpco.com/k9/

Yes! That's the one! I got to see it years ago at VCF Midwest 2015: https://www.commodorez.com/VCFMW10/71.html

[VA3DSO]

When I was a kid, I hooked up some wires to the joystick port on my VIC-20 and ran them over to my bedroom door. I then wrote a program for the VIC to monitor the joystick port and sound an alarm if the connection went open (meaning someone opened my bedroom door). This was mostly to keep my sister from snooping around in my room. I caught her... TWICE! Lots of fun!

[brain]

Hehe, I did the same, and I figured out you could put lots of switches on the joystick port if you used only 1 at a time and used diodes (I can't remember off top of head how, but I am sure I can re figure it out). Anyway, I took out a keypad from a phone or similar and wired all the keys up to a joyport, as well as a switch for the door. I then wrote small program to check the door switch and blast out some horrible siren type sound on the VIC-I if the switch opened. The rest of the code watched for the keypad to disarm the system. I even hooked up a small second speaker to the audio out of the VIC and ran a wire down the side of the house (I was on the second floor) to the basement where my electronics work table resided, so I could check status down there. My Dad actually condoned this horrid speaker wire hanging out the house window and going to the basement.

For main audio, I turned on the B&W TV, full volume, and turned the contrast and such were low as possible (my teenage brain must have thought turning down the intensity would save electricity, (no, it was not for burn in reasons, though that makes more sense, as I didn't know about burn in then).

The gig came to an end one morning when I armed it, sis and I went to school, and my mom came in to get laundry and could not figure out how to shut it off. Woke my Dad up before work started, he was not happy, she was not happy, alarm was permanently disarmed.

I was told not to nail/screw the keypad to my door, so I duct taped it to the door, a 1900's era solid wooden door with panels and many layers of paint, which the duct tape eventually loosened and pulled away from the door. TO this day, I believe that door has a spot on it about the size of a keypad where the paint is noticeably thinner.

[Wilson]

Love these stories
M.O.R.T. is a legend

[srowe]

There was also this recording synchroniser which used a modified VIC-20

https://www.muzines.co.uk/articles/the- ... -smpl/1420

[ral-clan]

Laboratory use by NASA:
viewtopic.php?t=7853