Recreating a calculator pen with SAMD21 and #CircuitPython @josecastillo @Microchipmakes
Recently, Adafruit posted about the calcu-pen, a retro piece of technology.
Maker Joey Castillo really liked the concept and decided to make a more modern equivalent. He’s using a SAMD21 microcontroller and technology developed in prior projects like a crowdfunded watch. Custom PCBs from Oshpark.
Joey says:
Y’all.Great success. First off: the pen is a pen. No battery as of yet, but that’s not much weight; so far it feels balanced in the hand, and size-wise feels reasonably in line with other pens in my arsenal.
But second and more importantly: IT WORKS! And runs Python, because that’s another joy of using the SAM D21 for prototyping: CircuitPython always “just works”.
I just wrote a simple calculator app for the pen in CircuitPython and broke into the most over the top gigglefest. like I cannot explain why this is so hilarious to me but it’s been five minutes, I went to fetch my camera and I’m still laughing, it’s so ridiculous
See the results so far below and read the entire design process in this Twitter Thread.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
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