calculator prototype

[lagunasun]

I have written a c++ prog. and now I want to turn it into a handheld device.
I want to make a prototype of a calculator type machine, but am having
trouble finding out how the boards are made/programmed.
(it may sound silly, but I tore apart a small cheap cheap calculator and as
far as I can tell, It should function along the same lines except that it
may need more RAM to hold pre defined char. names)
Thank you in advance for any help!

 

[Jerry Coffin]

I have written a c++ prog. and now I want to turn it into a handheld
device. I want to make a prototype of a calculator type machine, but
am having trouble finding out how the boards are made/programmed.
(it may sound silly, but I tore apart a small cheap cheap calculator
and as far as I can tell, It should function along the same lines
except that it may need more RAM to hold pre defined char. names)

This is a fairly serious undertaking.

I feel obliged to point out that in many ways it's much more difficult
to design something that's small, low-cost, low-power, etc., than
something big and impressive like a desktop computer.

As for how to design it: it depends heavily on the processing
capabilities you need, the volume you're planning to build, what
peripherals you need to support such as whether your display will do
bit-mapped graphics, or just numbers, and so on. Something that does
minimal calculation and only needs to run a numeric (segmented) display
can probably work quite nicely on an 8-bit microcontroller like an
8051. At the high end, some StrongARMs run at over 300 MHz.

In any case, none of this really has much to do with C++, so it's
undoubtedly off-topic here.

 

[Howard]

I have written a c++ prog. and now I want to turn it into a handheld
device.
I want to make a prototype of a calculator type machine, but am having
trouble finding out how the boards are made/programmed.
(it may sound silly, but I tore apart a small cheap cheap calculator and
as
far as I can tell, It should function along the same lines except that it
may need more RAM to hold pre defined char. names)
Thank you in advance for any help!

Nothing in the C++ language (which is what we discuss here) is going to help
you design a piece of hardware. You need to take a class on hardware design
(preceded by more general classes on electronics). Once you have a working
design, pay someone to fabricate it. There are prototyping companies out
there.

But, you're *definitely* in the wrong newsgroup here!

-Howard

 

[Jeff Schwab]

lagunasun wrote:

I feel obliged to point out that in many ways it's much more difficult
to design something that's small, low-cost, low-power, etc., than
something big and impressive like a desktop computer.

As for how to design it: it depends heavily on the processing
capabilities you need, the volume you're planning to build, what
peripherals you need to support such as whether your display will do
bit-mapped graphics, or just numbers, and so on. Something that does
minimal calculation and only needs to run a numeric (segmented) display
can probably work quite nicely on an 8-bit microcontroller like an
8051. At the high end, some StrongARMs run at over 300 MHz.

Ah, for the days of the 68HC16!

 

[Jack Klein]

I have written a c++ prog. and now I want to turn it into a handheld device.
I want to make a prototype of a calculator type machine, but am having
trouble finding out how the boards are made/programmed.
(it may sound silly, but I tore apart a small cheap cheap calculator and as
far as I can tell, It should function along the same lines except that it
may need more RAM to hold pre defined char. names)
Thank you in advance for any help!

A good place to discuss this is