Maker

Inputs

Outputs

How It Works

The Maker is an assembler: eight separate wires are rolled back into one bundle. If the Splitter opens a byte up, the Maker seals it shut. It is through this component that bit-level logic returns to the world of buses: whatever you do with individual bits, the result has to be assembled before it becomes a byte again.

The key property: the output is the weighted sum of the inputs, OUT = Bit0 + Bit1×2 + Bit2×4 + … + Bit7×128. Put ones on Bit0, Bit2, Bit4 and Bit6 — you get 1 + 4 + 16 + 64 = 85, that is 01010101. Each bit contributes according to its weight, and the rest simply add zero.

A nuance: the order of the inputs is critical. The inputs are labeled with weights, and Bit0 is always the least significant bit: swap it with Bit7 and your 85 turns into 170. Together with the Splitter, the Maker forms a bridge: Splitter — byte into bits, Maker — bits into byte, and almost every bitwise circuit passes through this pair.

Examples

Compare the first and second rows: the same four ones, but on different weights — and the value doubles. A bit's position matters no less than the bit itself.

Usage

On level 8 the Maker closes the adder loop: it gathers the sum bits computed by the Full Adder chain back into the Sum bus. The processor cannot do without it either: the full instruction byte is assembled from the opcode and the operand, the new Program Counter value is built from bits, and the decoder's control signals are packed into a bus so an LED8 can show them comfortably.

A concrete rule: after any bitwise circuit — AND, OR or XOR over individual bits, flag checks, button reads — the result returns to the "byte" world through a Maker. While signals travel on single wires, bus components (ADDER8, BusAND, RAM) cannot see them; the Maker translates them into bus language.