MicroPython Forum (Archive)

I'm fucking tired of getting my graphing calculator stolen, and even old used ones costing $60 upwards - with buttons I hate. They even took my HP-50G, which I loved to death.
And I need a calculator for my engineering tests/quizzes.

So I've decided I want to make my own graphing calculator using preexisting python libraries like scipy, sympy, etc.
I've some microcontroller and electronics experience, but I'm a bit lost on where to begin on running an interactive python console and then outputting the format onto a low res monocolor LCD screen. I was hoping for some suggestions on where to start!
Or maybe someone has done something similar, but I can't find anything.

Or you could buy a

https://www.amazon.com/CASIO-PRIZM-FX-C ... B0711D5RNZ

It comes with micropython preloaded. But where's the fun in that

Or a NumWorks, which even comes with source code for both firmware and hardware.

Unfortunately I don’t know the answers to your questions because I stopped pursuing them myself after I got the NumWorks (which I haven’t done much with either). I suspect you are going to have some trouble adapting SciPy to a microcontroller environment though.

scipy depends on numpy, and numpy hasn't been ported to MicroPython and is unlikely to be due to its resource requirements - this looks like the nearest thing that exists so far. Do you really need scipy though? What functions does your calculator need to have?

IMHO the easiest way of realising something like this would be to use full-fat Python on a Pi Zero - there are lots of screens, battery power options and so on already available. Of course there are also graphing calculator apps if you have a smartphone - perhaps that isn't an option if you aren't allowed to use a phone during a test, but then I wonder if you would be allowed to use a homebuilt device either, if the teacher/invigilator can't easily confirm that it doesn't have any communications capability.