Original hand-drawn blueprint for the Intel 1205 chip, accomplished in pencil on an off-white 30 x 30.5 sheet, matted and framed to an overall size of 36.5 x 35.5. The chip was designed by Matthew Miau in 1971 as a custom chip for Mars Money Systems (the candy company) for use in Disney World vending machines. As an early application of EPROM memory, it converted vending machines from mechanical to electronic systems. The large, highly intricate schematic is signed in the lower left by seven members of the Intel team, including Miau. In fine condition, with the mat somewhat loose within the frame.
This represents Matthew Miau’s first project as engineer after joining Intel in 1971, before going on to work on the famed 8080 team. Miau left Intel in 1976 and founded multibillion dollar MiTAC-Synnex Group, where he is chairman today. In an interview with the Computer History Museum, Miau reflected on this project: "When I first joined, as much as I wanted to try the microprocessor, I was given assignment to do a custom chip design for Disney World, for the company called the Mars Money Systems, to design a vending machine chip that recognizes the coins, to recognize a quarter, a dime, a nickel, and accumulates, and can then dispose the candy or whatever. And then, that was a very interesting project for me, very challenging. And I was very happy to be able to design the whole thing, and later write my test program. And that’s challenging for an engineer I think. I wish that all engineers have this kind of opportunity, to design for something and to write the test program itself, and to see that the chip works and sells." The chip is also referenced in the 2001 article 'Recollections of Early Chip Development at Intel,' published in the Intel Technology Journal.
