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Generic Calculator Shield for Arduino Photo-journal
03-02-2015, 07:01 AM (This post was last modified: 03-02-2015 07:04 AM by MarkHaysHarris777.)
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Generic Calculator Shield for Arduino Photo-journal
Greetings,
Well, I'm starting a new photo-journal; this time documenting the 'Generic Calculator Shield' for an Arduino micro-controller. The shield is intended ultimately for the Arduino Due, but will also work nicely on the Arduino Mega2560, and even on the Uno. The idea on this project is to produce and open hardware open software development system (including initial firmware) to get the community involved in generic calculator development in the open micro-controller 'maker' space. The hardware and software specs will be published here, google code, source forge, and Arduino (possibly Make). Others will be able to build their own shield, or optionally they will be able to 'order' an assembled shield which they may plug into their Arduino without having to own a soldering iron. In any case, the main idea is to move the development of a generic calculator (business, scientific, computing|software, even 'four banger') into the 'Maker' community (DIY) and others. The more people involved the better. A good place to get this started is the MoHPC community of RPN affectionados. So, we start here with one hi res pic under a thumb nail (thank you Dave F): Then a general description of the project goals:

[Image: Arduino_Uno.jpg]

This pic is my Arduino binary calculator and general 'sketch' laboratory I'm currently playing with while I get feel for this micro-controller. The upper board is a 'MakerShield' and the lower board is the Arduino Uno. The unit has looked just like this for two weeks (the real work is going on in the 1.6 IDE on my mac mini... where the frame-work is now up to 7K and several hundred lines of C|C++ coding).

The general idea here is to produce a 'calculator shield' which will contain a five column x seven row click-button keyboard, 16x2 backlit LCD display, and pinouts. Included with the shield will be initial firmware-framework for community collaboration with a common interface. The unit will be able to be used as a development framework, but will also be a fully functional calculator easily cased which will last for years to come.

Initially the calculator will have keyboard system, VT102 terminal system I|O, LCD library interface display system, and will provide the framework and functionality of a programmable HP35, or TI30 (basic scientific functions with keystroke programming, classic RPN stack configurable for eight levels with or without input buffer.

Well, as I make progress with the hardware (and firmware) I'll be posting pics and INO files here (as well source forge, code google, and Arduino). Feel free to jump in when things get going a little further.

PS Yes, casing buttons (overlays) and enclosures are being investigated as well. If you have ideas regarding same, let me know; frankly, I am investigating 3D printing and micro 3D printing options (yes we can!).

Cheers,
marcus
Smile

Kind regards,
marcus
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Generic Calculator Shield for Arduino Photo-journal - MarkHaysHarris777 - 03-02-2015 07:01 AM



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