<s>
The	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
is	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
implementing	O
a	O
finite	B-Architecture
state	I-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
using	O
simple	O
integrated	O
circuits	O
and	O
combinational	O
logic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
allows	O
for	O
easier	O
design	O
of	O
complex	O
finite	B-Architecture
state	I-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
than	O
the	O
traditional	O
techniques	O
of	O
state	B-Application
diagrams	I-Application
,	O
state	B-Application
transition	I-Application
tables	I-Application
and	O
Boolean	O
algebra	O
offer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Using	O
Richards	O
's	O
technique	O
,	O
it	O
becomes	O
easier	O
to	O
implement	O
finite	B-Architecture
state	I-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
with	O
hundreds	O
or	O
even	O
thousands	O
of	O
states	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
was	O
developed	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
need	O
for	O
an	O
easier	O
method	O
of	O
designing	O
finite	B-Architecture
state	I-Architecture
machines	I-Architecture
than	O
using	O
the	O
traditional	O
method	O
of	O
state	B-Application
diagrams	I-Application
,	O
state	B-Application
transition	I-Application
tables	I-Application
,	O
and	O
logic	O
minimization	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
many	O
of	O
the	O
computer	B-Application
based	I-Application
logic	O
minimization	O
tools	O
that	O
we	O
have	O
today	O
did	O
not	O
exist	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
this	O
,	O
Charles	O
L	O
.	O
Richards	O
invented	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
implementing	O
a	O
finite	B-Architecture
state	I-Architecture
machine	I-Architecture
that	O
did	O
not	O
need	O
an	O
explicit	O
state	B-Application
transition	I-Application
table	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
it	O
is	O
unlikely	O
that	O
commercial	O
products	O
found	O
today	O
contain	O
a	O
classic	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
(	O
since	O
there	O
are	O
faster	O
designs	O
now	O
than	O
ones	O
that	O
use	O
loadable	O
counters	O
)	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
a	O
good	O
chance	O
of	O
a	O
modified	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
or	O
a	O
design	O
derived	O
from	O
the	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
being	O
used	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Because	O
of	O
the	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
's	O
ability	O
to	O
scale	O
to	O
use	O
many	O
states	O
easily	O
,	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
in	O
many	O
practical	O
applications	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
is	O
a	O
Mealy	B-General_Concept
machine	I-General_Concept
since	O
its	O
output	O
is	O
dependent	O
on	O
both	O
the	O
current	O
state	O
and	O
the	O
input	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
Richards	O
designed	O
his	O
own	O
method	O
of	O
representing	O
states	O
using	O
a	O
flowchart	O
diagram	O
,	O
instead	O
of	O
the	O
state	B-Application
diagram	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Richards	B-Application
controller	I-Application
's	O
core	O
kernel	O
can	O
be	O
boiled	O
down	O
into	O
four	O
parts	O
,	O
a	O
counter	O
,	O
a	O
multiplexer	O
,	O
and	O
two	O
decoders	O
.	O
</s>
