d5331ec9a8364840a748cb3734090bdb

2/26/2026 COR24-TB FPGA Development Board Released

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 21:28:42 GMT

A demonstration and development vehicle for the COR24 soft CPU

The COR24-TB is designed around the Lattice MachXO* FPGA. It can be used to learn about and create solutions based on the COR24 soft CPU, or it can be used as a general purpose MachXO FPGA development platform. See a product description, and technical documentation, here . You can purchase this product on Tindie, here .

We developed this board as a step toward replacing the Zilog eZ80 microprocessor on the MakerLisp Machine CPU. We'll use the I/O that is broken out to headers on this board, to prototype hardware and software for I2C, and SPI SD card support. Then we'll make a new MakerLisp CPU card that has it all on-board, like the current MakerLisp CPU. The eZ80 on the MakerLisp Machine CPU runs at 50 MHz, the COR24 here runs at a little over 100 MHz - the COR24 instruction execution mechanism and the C compiler are of similar efficiency, so we should see a 2x boost in performance, and be free from any future Zilog eZ80 supply chain issues.

* Lattice MachXO is a trademark of Lattice Semiconductor, Inc.

10/24/2021 MakerLisp 1.5 Release Update

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Mon, 25 Oct 2021 02:00:18 GMT

Software Update, Performance Improvement

There's a new software archive up, please take a look at the release notes . Overall performance of Lisp programs is substantially increased, try it out !

9/18/2021 MakerLisp 1.5 Released !

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Sun, 19 Sep 2021 04:36:23 GMT

2020 and 2021 have been busy years, but MakerLisp Language and Machine Development Continues

On the hardware front, all of the boards are in stock, and have been re-spun a couple of times, for improvements in manufacturing quality and cost. They just keep getting a little neater and trimmer. On the next spin of the CPU board, coming soon, I will introduce build options of either 2 MB or 4MB of onboard memory, in addition to the current 1 MB board available now.

I'm declaring the MakerLisp language model complete, as of this 1.5 (kind of a historically meaningful version number, in the Lisp world :) ) release. Yes, there will be additional library functions, utilities, and of course bug fixes when necessary, but the evaluator semantics will not change, I don't think. They haven't changed since version 1.1, but I have found more efficient ways to do some things, that fit naturally with MakerLisp's JIT system, and its macro facility. See the release notes for more details. Or call or write, and ask ! I love talking about this stuff !

The MakerVent ventilator has been a very rewarding project, and it is also continuing. But now I have a little more time for MakerLisp again, and I am committed to making this machine and language a first class educational and recreational learning platform. Sales are steady, and some of you are doing very interesting (and helpful !) things. I expect to be distributing some contributed games and utilities soon.

Please take a look at the latest software and documentation, it will work with any version of the hardware you have purchased, or might purchase now. And if you want a feature, or a utility, or information on how to do something, don't be shy ! I can probably help.

Thank you all for your continued interest in and support of the MakerLisp Machine !

Luther Johnson

9/13/2020 MakerVent Crowdfunding

Sun, 13 Sep 2020 23:24:54 GMT

Loan Campaign on Kiva

We are currently running a crowdfunding campaign on Kiva, a "micro-finance" platform, in order to support our effort to achieve FDA authorization - this is not a donation, it's a loan - you can lend as little as $25, and you get paid back, a little every month. Please check out our campaign . Thanks !

3/19/2020

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:18:44 GMT

Lately I've been spending almost all my time creating an open source ventilator, the "MakerVent Model T" . Of course contact me as usual for MakerLisp product information and support.

8/21/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:17:38 GMT

CP/M 2.2 is ported and released for the MakerLisp Machine ! Download the release notes and archive.

8/3/2019-8/4/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:16:32 GMT

The MakerLisp Machine was at the Vintage Computer Festival West, in Mountain View, Ca:

http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-west

7/16/2019-7/17/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:15:35 GMT

I was in Gouda, NL, for the Nuttx 2019 International Nuttx Workshop:

https://nuttx2019.org

Nuttx is a Unix-like, real-time embedded OS, which has a great following, including makers of robotic vehicles. Nuttx has booted and run on the MakerLisp Machine, a supported port will be available soon !

6/20/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:14:28 GMT

I was just in Chicago, at the Chicago Functional Programming meetup !

https://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Functional-Programming-Meetup/events/261402402

6/14/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:12:59 GMT

Max Maxfield at EEWeb wrote a nice overview of the project: https://www.eeweb.com/profile/max-maxfield/articles/makerlisp-boasts-lisp-and-cp-m-for-makers-and-embedded-designers

Thanks Max !

5/18/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:11:05 GMT

Great Hackaday / Tindie meetup Saturday night after a day at the Bay Area Maker Faire, showed the machine, and met so many great people sharing their cool projects:

https://hackaday.com/2019/05/24/great-hacks-at-our-maker-faire-bay-area-meetup-from-helmets-and-goggles-to-rovers-and-string/

5/1/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:09:53 GMT

Playing games on the MakerLisp Machine ! Steve Losh manifested this awesome retro-recreation for the Lisp Game Jam 2019, using MakerLisp and the Makerlisp Machine !

https://sjl.itch.io/black-box

4/22/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:08:50 GMT

Pre-orders have been filled, products are in stock and available for sale ! MakerLisp is officially released, please check the Download page for the latest source and release notes, and the Buy page for information on products, prices, and ordering !

4/12/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:03:24 GMT

Really fun talk and meeting with the LispNYC meetup group, made some new friends, got lots of good ideas and feedback on ways to make the project better. Thank you all !

https://www.meetup.com/LispNYC/events/254768347/?comment_table_id=500522648&comment_table_name=event_comment

3/23/2019-3/24/2019

183:837615311 (Luther Johnson) — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 22:02:07 GMT

Vintage Computer Festival Pacific Northwest http://vcfed.org/wp/festivals/vintage-computer-festival-pacific-northwest/

was awesome, I met so many interesting people, who really respond to the vintage vibe !

2/2/2019

Tue, 11 Aug 2020 21:55:44 GMT

I had a great time meeting everyone at the Bay Area Lisp & Scheme User's Group, on Saturday, February 2nd. Thank you!

https://www.meetup.com/balisp/events/257997466