AriCalculator is a home made pocket calculator.

[hotwolf]

Hello,
I'm the designer of AriCalculator and I've been asked to join this conversation.

The calculator is a hobby project of mine, which has been inspired by HP's handheld products. The hardware is based on a NXP S12G240 microcontroller with 11k of RAM and 240k of flash space. It has a 128x64 pixel graphics display, 38 keys, a USB virtual COM port (FTDI) that servers as a user programming interface, and a general purpose SPI port for hardware extensions. The hardware is in it's third iteration and I would consider it as mature.

The calculator will run on my own ANS Forth implementation which is currently undergoing it's third complete rewrite. And that is currently the focus of my hobby time.

I choose Forth as a base for the firmware, because it's lightweight, efficient, portable to other platforms, and it provides a great programming interface for user extensions. It's my substitute for HP's RPL.

So my software development lacks a bit behind, mostly because I've been tinkering with my Forth too much and because it has so far only been a one mane show. But, recently I joint efforts with the developer of the 8051 RPN calculator. So the AriCalculator R&D team has just grown by 100%.

I'd like to respond to some of the previous posts:

@Dave Britten: Integrated circuits are just not produced in through hole packages anymore. I'm happy when a chip comes in a package with outward bent pins, so it can be hand soldered at all. But, there is no need to be afraid of SMD work. I think the key to soldering small and close-pitch components is having a decent soldering microscope. Once you can see what you're doing you are able to work very accurately with your hands.

@KeithB: The laser engraved labels are better readable once they have been colored with acrylic paint.

@everettr: The calculator already supports backlit displays. It can be equipped with a second boost converter to power some LED. Maybe it would be a good idea to add some further LED to light up the acrylic front panel.

@Maximilian Hohman: The Forth compiler runs on the calculator itself. That's one of the beauties of Forth. You send your source code in ASCII to the calculator and it compiles it into binary as it receives it. And you can pretty much use any ANS Forth running on your PC (e.g. GNU Forth or SwiftForth) to develop your software.

@Jim Horn: The S12G microcontroller has with a proprietary C compiler/IDE (CodeWarrior) and a free GCC port. But as this is a hobby project that I do for fun, I prefer programming in Forth and assembler.

Thank for your interest in the project. Please contact me if you any questions.
Dirk Heisswolf