Mechanical Key Calculator

[TheLastPixel]

Hey Guys/ Girls,

 

I'm currently having my finals and I have to do many calculations as part of my CIE exams. One thing I have noticed is that I make alot of errors in typing my calculations into my Casio FX-82MS which is due to my being time pressured and the keys on the calculator being relatively unresponsive. I had this idea awhile back and figured I'd do it as a summer project, I'd like to buy some Cherry MX keys off ebay, a cheap calculator and numpad. Break it apart and create a mechanical key calculator, maybe with LED lights just for the fun of it, I have a pile of unused powerbanks which I could also open up or just power the calculator with a usb cable. Just wanted to see if anyone in the LTT community had any ideas to contribute or any tips.

 

Pls No Roast

[A Silver]

Sorry i have no tips or ideas but i would love to see how this goes and i may even try it my self if it goes well for you!

[tlink]

7 minutes ago, TheLastPixel said:

Hey Guys/ Girls,

 

I'm currently having my finals and I have to do many calculations as part of my CIE exams. One thing I have noticed is that I make alot of errors in typing my calculations into my Casio FX-82MS which is due to my being time pressured and the keys on the calculator being relatively unresponsive. I had this idea awhile back and figured I'd do it as a summer project, I'd like to buy some Cherry MX keys off ebay, a cheap calculator and numpad. Break it apart and create a mechanical key calculator, maybe with LED lights just for the fun of it, I have a pile of unused powerbanks which I could also open up or just power the calculator with a usb cable. Just wanted to see if anyone in the LTT community had any ideas to contribute or any tips.

 

Pls No Roast

i think you should ask if homebrew calculators are allowed before they confiscate it.

9

best way to do this is probably a rasperry pi (zero) or an arduino with small lcd. raspberry 

[Trav_X]

Were you planning on using the same calculator or a different one?

[Hackentosher]

Or you could get a ti84 like the rest of us. 

[Trav_X]

5 hours ago, Hackentosher said:

Or you could get a ti84 like the rest of us. 

True, 84 Plus or Plus CE or Silver Edition would be fine. And if you really wanted a keyboard you could just go and pickup a TI-92 on eBay for like less than $40 USD, and it's got a full QWERTY keyboard as well.

[PRTI]

23 minutes ago, Trav_X said:

True, 84 Plus or Plus CE or Silver Edition would be fine. And if you really wanted a keyboard you could just go and pickup a TI-92 on eBay for like less than $40 USD, and it's got a full QWERTY keyboard as well.

So? it can be...like you know...

 

A gaming keyboard?

[Trav_X]

1 hour ago, keNNySOC said:

So? it can be...like you know...

 

A gaming keyboard?

Well....the calculator itself isn't really made for playing games...but it's a pretty damn good keyboard.

 

you could probably find a way to wire it into a Raspberry Pi and play emulated text adventures or some shit  

[TheLastPixel]

16 hours ago, tlink said:

i think you should ask if homebrew calculators are allowed before they confiscate it.

9

best way to do this is probably a rasperry pi (zero) or an arduino with small lcd. raspberry 

Oh good idea didn't think for that. Thanks

[TheLastPixel]

14 hours ago, Hackentosher said:

Or you could get a ti84 like the rest of us. 

We aren't allowed to use graphic calculators for our examinations

 

16 hours ago, tlink said:

i think you should ask if homebrew calculators are allowed before they confiscate it.

9

best way to do this is probably a rasperry pi (zero) or an arduino with small lcd. raspberry 

Just a fun project, prob just for home use

[Hackentosher]

26 minutes ago, TheLastPixel said:

We aren't allowed to use graphic calculators for our examinations

Or you could get a Ti34 like the rest of us. Still have one on my desk, although my 84+ CE SE is my daily driver for school.

[DrM]

12 hours ago, Trav_X said:

True, 84 Plus or Plus CE or Silver Edition would be fine. And if you really wanted a keyboard you could just go and pickup a TI-92 on eBay for like less than $40 USD, and it's got a full QWERTY keyboard as well.

thats not the problem. its that the keys are terrible and unresponsive.

 

@TheLastPixela mechanical calculator would be nice. a problem though is the size of the switches. you cant fit that many buttons on it without making it huge. just look at the ducky pocket. its a 4 funtion calculator and its already the size of a scientific at least

Spoiler

 

[TheLastPixel]

3 minutes ago, DrM said:

thats not the problem. its that the keys are terrible and unresponsive.

 

@TheLastPixela mechanical calculator would be nice. a problem though is the size of the switches. you cant fit that many buttons on it without making it huge. just look at the ducky pocket. its a 4 funtion calculator and its already the size of a scientific at least

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Woah, didn't realize its been done, I'll check it out thanks

[corrado33]

Don't blame the calculator. The keys are fine. You just want to make a project, which is absolutely fine.

 

However, a mechanical key calculator will not be useful whatsoever. It won't be portable. Most scientific calculators have ~40 keys on them. A typical laptop keyboard has ~80 keys on them. So your calculator will be at LEAST half the size of a laptop keyboard. The easiest way to do it would be to cut a numpad off of a keyboard then wire the numbers up to your calculator switches.