CAVIAR Physics Microcomputer

UvA Computer Museum catalogue nr 99.63

caviar
CAVIAR (CAMAC Video Autonomous Read-out), developed about 1980 at CERN in Geneva, was a multi-purpose microcomputer for the interactive development, in-line control and monitoring of experiments in high-energy physics. The CAVIAR machine was used in conjunction with a CAMAC system, consisting of a set of I/O modules assembled in a 19" crate. Some of the CAMAC-modules (for instance, analog-to-digital converters) would directly be connected to measuring devices, while another module would give access to a host (mainframe) computer through a high-speed link.
The CAVIAR uses a Motorola 6800 microprocessor with 32 kB of solid-state RAM. In 29 kB EPROM the BAMBI (BASIC-like) interpreter is stored. Using the BAMBI graphics commands, graphs and histograms can be shown on the built-in miniature monitor screen. An alphanumeric terminal is connected to CAVIAR for programming and entering commands.
The Super-CAVIAR (shown in the picture) is an enhanced version of CAVIAR with 64 kB RAM, 84 kB EPROM and other improvements.

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