Normally people use big binary decoders to build a calculator, so naturally I decided to skip them entierly. Then I added on a big fancy screen, and made the monstrosity you see before you.

This calculator is capable of adding and subtracting any two 5 digit numbers using signal strength. The actual adders and subtractors themselves are quite small. In fact over half of that giant thing you see in the picture is solely to control the screen. The screen itself does some pretty fancy stuff, and is the smallest resolution I've ever seen a seven segment display on.

For the curious, here's a list of the colors and what they correspond to:

Quartz: I/O, this handles the inputs from the user, as well as some special circuits for handling the outputs and putting them on the screen.

Blue/Red: These are the registers which store the numbers you input. They also do the shifting that you see in the video, which serves to make inputting smaller numbers easier. Blue is register A and Red is register B.

Green: Signal strength adder. Designed to operate in base-10, each unit handles anything up to 9+9, with a separate carry output. If you're curious on how they work, you can find an older version here, however I will likely be uploading another video soon that goes into detail about this one.

Orange: Signal strength subtractor. Same deal as the adder, there's another video coming soon, but you can still check out that link to see more info on how it works.

Yellow: Custom circuit on the end of the subtractors to decode a negative answer. This isn't expalined in that video above, but it will be in the new one.

Quick note: While I do have buttons on the pad for multiplication and division, these aren't hooked up to anything yet. I might add them later, but for now it's just addition and subtraction.


This was built on the R.E.D server, as I mentioned in the video. You can apply for the server on its website, or if you just want to look around at R.E.D you can check out the groups website or PMC forum post.
ZonkedCompanion Server website (apply here!): http://zonked.dsm-web.net/
R.E.D website (under construction): http://www.keirenwaddell.comyr.com/

Don't forget to leave a diamond or a comment and let me know what you think :)