# Texas Instruments Explorer
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The '''Texas Instruments Explorer''' is a family of [Lisp machine](/source/Lisp_machine) computers. These computers were sold by [Texas Instruments](/source/Texas_Instruments) (TI) in the 1980s. The Explorer is based on a design from [Lisp Machines](/source/Lisp_Machines) Incorporated, which is based on the MIT [Lisp machine](/source/Lisp_machine). The Explorer was used to develop and deploy [artificial intelligence](/source/artificial_intelligence) software.
Notable is also the early use of the [NuBus](/source/NuBus) as the [system bus](/source/system_bus) for the Explorer computer family.
==History==
The Explorer was used to develop and deploy [artificial intelligence](/source/artificial_intelligence) software. Later models were based on a special [32-bit](/source/32-bit_computing) [microprocessor](/source/microprocessor)[{{Cite journal |last1=Bosshart |first1=Patrick |last2=Hewes |first2=C. |last3=Chang |first3=Mi-Chang |last4=Chau |first4=Kwok-Kit |last5=Hoac |first5=C. |last6=Houston |first6=T. |last7=Kalyan |first7=V. |last8=Lusky |first8=S. |last9=Mahant-Shetti |first9=S. |last10=Matzke |first10=D. |last11=Ruparel |first11=K. |last12=Shaw |first12=Ching-Hao |last13=Sridhar |first13=T. |last14=Stark |first14=D. |title=A 553K-Transistor LISP Processor Chip |journal=IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits |date=February 1987 |location=New York, New York, United States |pages=202–203 |doi=10.1109/ISSCC.1987.1157084|s2cid=195841103 }} Solid-State Circuits Conference Digest of Technical Papers vol sc-22 issue nr 5] developed by TI, which hardware had enhanced support for executing [Lisp](/source/Lisp_(programming_language)) software.
==Operating system==
The operating system of the Explorer was written in [Lisp Machine Lisp](/source/Lisp_Machine_Lisp) and also supported [Common Lisp](/source/Common_Lisp).[{{Cite web |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/explorer/2243201-0001_LispRef.pdf |title=The Explorer System Software Manuals: Lisp Reference |date=1985}}]
==Use==
A notable application is SPIKE,[{{citation |title=SPIKE|url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19900017961.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170227202228/https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19900017961.pdf |archive-date=2017-02-27 |url-status=dead}}, Artificial Intelligence Scheduling for the [Hubble Space Telescope](/source/Hubble_Space_Telescope), Mark Johnston, Glenn Miller, Jeff Sponsler, Shon Vick, Robert Jackson, Space Telescope Institute] the scheduling system for the [Hubble Space Telescope](/source/Hubble_Space_Telescope). SPIKE was developed on Texas Instruments Explorer workstations.
==Models==
* Explorer[{{cite news|title=Official TI Explorer Computer System Brochure|url=http://classic.technology/texas-instruments-explorer-computer-system/|newspaper=Classic Computer Brochures|date=22 September 2014}}]
* Explorer II, based on the Lisp microprocessor
* Explorer LX, which combines the Explorer with a co-processor running a version of [Unix](/source/Unix) (TI System V)
* [MicroExplorer](/source/MicroExplorer), a [NuBus](/source/NuBus) board for the [Apple Macintosh](/source/Apple_Macintosh) based on the Lisp microprocessor
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Publications==
* Software innovations for the Texas Instruments Explorer computer, Tennant, H.R.; Bate, R.R.; Corey, S.M.; Davis, L.; Kline, P.; Oren, L.G.; Rajinikanth, M.; Saenz, R.; Stenger, D.; Thompson, C.W., Proceedings of the IEEE Volume 73, Issue 12, Dec. 1985 Page(s): 1771 - 1790
* Artificial intelligence hardware architectures for the Space Station era: The Texas Instruments Explorer and Compact LISP Machine, Krueger, S. ; Manuel, G. ; Matthews, G. ; Ott, G. ; Watkins, C., Opt. Eng. ; Vol/Issue: 25:11
* Dussud, P. H. 1988. Lisp hardware architecture: the Explorer II and beyond. SIGPLAN Lisp Pointers 1, 6 (Apr. 1988), 13–18. http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1317224.1317226
* P.H. Dussud, TICLOS: An implementation of CLOS for the Explorer Family, In Proc. OOPSLA'89, International Conference on Object-Oriented Programming, Systems, Languages and Applications, 1989, pp. 215–219.
* Zeitgeist: Database Support for Object-Oriented Programming (1988), by S Ford, J Joseph, D Langworthy, D Lively, G Pathak, E Perez, R. Peterson, D. Sparacin, S. Thatte, D. Wells, S. Agarwal, In Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Object-Oriented Database Systems (Zeitgeist was an OODBMS developed by Texas Instruments for the Explorer)
==External links==
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/microexplorer/ TI MicroExplorer documentation]
* [http://www.bitsavers.org/pdf/ti/explorer/ TI Explorer documentation]
* [http://www.ti.com/corp/docs/company/history/watson.htm Texas Instruments history, In search for a market]
* [https://archive.org/details/ti-explorer TI Explorer Lisp Machine Source Code (1991)]
* [https://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/ai-repository/ai/lang/lisp/code/impdep/explorer/0.html TI Explorer Lisp Code: The Stanford Knowledge Systems Lab's set of Explorer patches and tools.]
* [http://www.unlambda.com/lispm/index.html Emulators]
{{Lisp programming language}}
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Category:Lisp (programming language)
Category:Computer workstations
Explorer
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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Texas Instruments Explorer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_Explorer) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Instruments_Explorer?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.