Machining a TI-89 Out of Aluminum

TangoMargarine writes "Sometimes, expensive calculators hit the floor. It's happened to almost anyone with a graphing calculator from TI or HP. Sadly, they don't always bounce. After this happened to [Howard C.], an Industrial Engineering student from U. of Iowa, he decided to spend $50 on milling his own replacement case out of aluminum rather than trashing the device over a broken battery compartment."

Comments

ok but

[FuckingNickName]

1. Serious engineers use HP calculators;

2. Cushioned innards no?

Re:ok but

[Anonymous Coward]

I know this guy personally. The durability thing was mostly just the spin HackADay put on it. As I recall, he milled this thing out mostly because it was a good way to get more experience milling complex items out of aluminum. And because the final product is seriously cool.

More important: motherboard fittings, construction

[blind biker]

I've seen the drop-test instrumentation used for reliability testing in one of our uni's labs. They sell services to companies such as Nokia, to test the reliability of their gadgets. Anyhow, to make an almost indestructible case is not difficult, but what increases reliability and survivability of electronic equipment is correct fitting and damping of the motherboard to the case (you don't want it to feel the same deceleration as the case hitting the floor) and the components soldered on the motherboard must not break the electric contacts. This latter is very, very challenging, and hundreds if not thousands of engineers and scientists work around the world on improving the reliability of electronic IC packaging and solder.

Re:Why not...

[mysidia]

There's an easier more elegant way than machining a new case to fix a battery cover, that's for sure.

Re:Awesome. How do I do that?

[aluser]

I haven't used this place, but here's one place that will do small one-off machining jobs for you: http://www.emachineshop.com/ . That's been sitting in my bookmarks for "future reference" for a while now :)

Looks like they want you to use their own cad software, which apparently can estimate the cost while you work on the design. I bet some googling can find other, similar, shops.

Anecdote

[rdnetto]

TIs are the standard amongst students where I live, I always thought that serious engineers use *computers* with MATLAB, Maple, etc.

Actually, this reminds me of a story I heard about a classmate a few years ago. He actually dropped his TI-89 (same one as shown here) out of a 2 story high window. The case was cracked but apart from that the calculator worked fine.

Personally, I think that model is the best one so far. It had full programming capabilities paired with tech. The new NSpires have a higher res screen, but they're not as easy to use because the interface is much more advanced and relies on a cursor. Additionally, programs are limited to BASIC, unlike the 89s which supported programs written in assembly (and TI even provided an IDE to write them in, IIRC).