Longtime hacker [Peter Jansen] was so impressed with a piece in The Onion from last year that he decided to build this coin-operated Texas Instruments graphing calculator console on a whim (video below the break — warning vertical orientation).
With nothing more to go on than the fake mock-up pictured from the original satirical article, [Peter] was able to scale the dimensions from the photo making a few reasonable assumptions. He built the project over the holidays, enlisting his father and daughter as helpers. The cabinet is framed in 2×3 lumber and faced with wood veneer covered plywood and vinyl overlays for the graphics.
The computing power is from a Raspberry Pi with an Arduino Uno serves as an I/O processor. It was a bit tricky to control a calculator with only two knobs, but he makes it work. However, at 25 cents per plot with no apparent hard-copy capability, this console calculator might be a bit pricey for all but casual plotting over a few beers at the local pub.
You might remember [Peter] from some of his hacks we featured over the years, like his home-brew CT scanner or placing fourth in the first Hackaday Prize contest in 2014 with the open sourced tricorder project.
Please explain to me why I actually want one of these, because I do.
I love it.
If you have the money for it, you can plot how much you lost.
Nice.
Can you imagine how much money you could make if you put one of these in all the bars in your town, You would have more money than famous Amos
He should have used a Beagle Board since they use a TI SoC
Now I want a Addams Family-themed electronic spectrometer!
It would only produce the spectrum of black (“such a cheerful color” – Morticia)
These seems like something one of those for-profit universities would have at a proctored test.