The KOAT0 Is a VFD

Vacuum fluorescent displays (VFDs) occupied a point in history after Nixie tubes were largely obsolete, but before LED displays and LCD screens became the norm. Most people recognize them as the bright teal numerical displays that used to be common on microwave ovens, VCRs, and hi-fi stereo equipment. They were a good choice because they offered great contrast and brightness. But they look pretty retro these days, which means that their use indicates a stylistic choice. That is certainly the case with RobsonCouto's VFD-equipped KOAT0 cyberdeck terminal.

This is a really nice VFD that would have been top-of-the-line back in the '80s or '90s. Most VFDs from that era could only display a limited amount of information, like four numerical digits on a microwave or three digits for the speed on a car dashboard. This is a general purpose VFD with a resolution of 256×50. That might not sound like a lot, but it is very good for a VFD. It is enough to, for example, show several lines of a Linux terminal and that makes it perfect for this application.

The KOAT0 looks real good, folks. It has the quintessential '80s cyberpunk aesthetic that we all love so much. The asymmetrical 3D-printed enclosure has a carry handle on one end, with the rest of the space taken up by the keyboard, the VFD, and a big ol' logo. The color scheme is perfect: mostly gray with just the right amount of orange accents.

Like most cyberdecks, this contains a Raspberry Pi single-board computer. That is a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which RobsonCouto chose because he couldn't get his hands on a Raspberry Pi 4. The keyboard is a generic model from AliExpress labeled as a "K68," but there aren't many details about it. Power comes from a USB battery bank.

This GP1294AI VFD was designed to work with microcontroller development boards, like the Arduino Uno. But RobsonCouto wanted it to connect directly to the Raspberry Pi without any additional hardware. The Raspberry Pi can output the correct signals through the GPIO pins, but he needed a way to push all video (or terminal text) through. That forced him to develop his own display driver for Linux, which was a substantial undertaking. Luckily, he seems to have got that working fairly well — though it is a bit "hacky."

The finished KOAT0 should appeal to all the Neuromancers out there and is also a functional terminal.