BBRouter
Ben Eater's 8-bit computer, simulated on 3D breadboards
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Hi HN,I kept wiring Ben Eater's 8-bit computer wrong, so I built a realistic virtual breadboard editor.Some of the nice features are side-by-side diff, scope, schematics auto-sync, auto-router (BBRouter stands for breadboard router), and my favorites: upload from the real Arduino IDE and connect to your AI with MCP, let Claude & co build it or help you troubleshoot.The link is the SAP-1 running. You can orbit it, probe a hole with the scope, slow the clock down, play with the virtual displays for debugging, then you can actually build it following the step-by-step instructions.A side-goal is to create a community, there are quite a lot of simulators out there but mostly offline / too abstract to realistically use it for a real build. I also never found one that had a decent UI/UX and worked well on mobile or with a trackpad.Happy to answer anything, and tell me what breaks.p.s. Maker plan is $7/month; code HACKERNEWS makes the first month free and then $5/month for as long as you keep it.
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HN · launched Nov 1, 2026 · 57 upvotes (top 24%)
- Education
- Prosumer
- Not AI
- Hobby / open-source project
Similar launches
See all 99 similar launches →Could you build this?
Partial The breadboard editor UI, parts library, and wiring are vibe-codeable, but the circuit simulation engine, auto-routing algorithm, and schematic-to-breadboard sync are substantial technical problems that go beyond typical prompt-driven coding.
What it would actually take: Build a 2D/3D web canvas editor (e.g., Three.js or a canvas library) backed by a netlist data model, then add a logic/analog simulation core (an existing solver or an event-driven gate simulator for the 8-bit CPU). The hard parts are a correct simulator and a constraint-aware auto-router that avoids shorts on a grid, which need EDA and simulation expertise. Hardware-accurate part models and datasheet data are also needed.
Discussion
10 comments analyzed.
Competitors mentioned: KiCad, Verilog, VHDL, Verilator, LabVIEW
Concerns raised: not suited for serious projects, Verilog toolchain may be a better approach
Feature requests: hide or move RAM program window, mains-derived 60 Hz time base example, Ben Eater digital clock example, hide overlays on small screens
Competitors
Other products that read as similar to this one : 99 launches clear the similarity bar, closest 8 shown.
Attention rank: #34 of 100 (itself plus its competitors, highest first, normalized so YC and Product Hunt are compared fairly).
Launched 368 days after the earliest competitor.
- BBRouter · ph · 2026-11-01 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.77
- I designed my own 3D printer motherboard · hn · 2025-12-06 · 127 upvotes · similarity 0.53
- Breadboard · hn · 2026-05-25 · 5 upvotes · similarity 0.47
- GPU-Based Autorouting for KiCad · hn · 2025-10-29 · 8 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- Mokxi · ph · 2026-10-14 · 2 upvotes · similarity 0.44
- We built an 8-bit CPU as 2nd year EE students · hn · 2026-06-15 · 108 upvotes · similarity 0.41
- I built an open-source Linux-capable single-board computer with DDR3 · hn · 2025-12-24 · 17 upvotes · similarity 0.41
- I made a game where you build a CPU from logic gates · hn · 2026-07-30 · 102 upvotes · similarity 0.40
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