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Calculators have a long and noble history, starting out as
human beings, then becoming mechanical things of gears
and cranks, then assemblages of relays, valves,
transistors... and finally little palm-held miracles of
electronics.
The wristwatch, meanwhile, has likewise evolved from a
mechanical
timepiece, via electromechanical hybrids, and
onward to the digital watch, and thence the smartwatch.
Somewhere along the line, these two evolutionary lines
merged to produce the calculator watch - a chunky digital
timepiece with an array of tiny buttons for performing off-
the-cuff electronic calculations.
But wait! Surely, an evolutionary step has been missed!
Where is the mechanical wrist calculator?
Proposed, therefore, is such a machine. Crafted by a
certifiably insane watchmaker, it will be the wrist-borne,
miniaturized mechanical equivalent of the Marchant hand-
cranked calculator. Driven by a tiny crank which folds out
from the side of the watch, it will perform mechanical
mathematics by means of an exquisitely miniaturized set
of gears and cams, displaying the answer in a barely-
readable odometer-style display set into the face.
Curta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta
almost... [piluso, Feb 01 2016]
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Annotation:
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I love it. And for the other wrist a mechanical typewriter, please. |
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Arabic or Roman numerals ? Only a limited number of certifiably insane watchmakers are available, don't want to waste their time. |
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MB((where the Etruscans were displaced by Gauls) once again the French seem to have invented it. ) |
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The problem with Roman numerals is that they're
complete bollocks. So we'll be going with Arabic
numerals, which are Indian, rather than Roman
numerals, which are Etruscan. |
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[+] but the folding crank sounds a bit fragile. I suggest
gearing it to the bezel ring instead. |
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[scad mientist] - I was thinking the exact same thing! |
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I wish I were smart enough to recommend a bezel ring. |
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//Driven by a tiny crank// which winds the watch spring which operates the multiplexed comptometer. |
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Nice - will it print out answers onto a roll of very thin paper? |
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A printer would be a distinct improvement. Perhaps
a tiny Linotype machine? |
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Don't make it to complicated in the first step. Just read the (mechanical) display and type the numbers with my miniature typewriter on the other wrist. |
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I'm pretty sure that a system of cables and pulleys,
running up one sleeve and down the other, could be
used to connect the mechanical calculator watch to
your wrist typewriter. |
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[+] A self-winding mechanism would be a proper power source for this device. |
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//A self-winding mechanism// |
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I don't think we should piss about with a simple,
one-rotor self-winder. Such rotors capture energy
efficiently only at certain speeds of arm
movement. What we need is a nested series of
concentric rotors, each working best under
different conditions. A fairly simple gearing
system should then be able to extract the
available energy from whichever rotor(s) is/are
delivering the most at any given time. |
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Actually I may post that as an independent half-
idea. |
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I did actually think of this myself quite some time ago but
didn't post it. Never mind, it's clearly a good idea [+]. |
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//Driven by a tiny crank// |
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Is that a slightly obscure reference to Donald Trump ? |
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Actually, an even smallerer step would use a rotary slide rule
logarithmic scale whatnot. |
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Rotary slide rule watches exist. |
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