An Audible Calculator

Abstract

The design of an audible calculator is the topic of this paper. That is, a device which, when given an arithmetic expression via a keyboard, audibly echoes each entry and announces the answer. The basis for the calculator is provided by an Intel 8080 microprocessor controlling a cassette tape player. The calculator 'speaks' by having the microprocessor (and associated logic circuitry) select words from a pre-recorded vocabulary on cassette tape. This calculator turns out to be slightly impractical from the user's point of view. The reason for this is the low rate of feedback; in other words, it is not able to •talk' fast enough. A brief discussion of possible solutions to this problem and other possible improvements is presented.