Popular tech YouTuber ChromaLock recently shared a video demonstrating how they managed to connect a “dated” TI-84 graphing calculator to the internet and run ChatGPT, creating, “the ultimate cheating device.”
In order to pull off the hack, ChromaLock leveraged custom hardware modifications and an open-source software suite. On the hardware side, the YouTuber installed a Wi-Fi-enabled microcontroller (specifically, the Seed Studio ESP32-C3), thereby avoiding the need to use the link port to connect to an external connectivity device. They had to tweak the device’s voltage slightly and install a 1K resistor to properly power the microcontroller.
The software, on the other hand, is available on Github under the TI-32 repository and acts as “a mod for the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition and TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition calculators to give them internet access and add other features, like test mode breakout and camera support,” according to its description. The modder ran into signal integrity issues during the development process, but was able to mitigate them by building a custom PCB to enable the Wi-Fi microcontroller to impersonate another TI-84 and allow the user to more easily send and share data with their actual TI-84.
In the video above, ChromaLock shows off some of the device’s capabilities, including a chat function, a monochrome image viewer, and a ChatGPT input window. Essentially, the modification enables users to input complex equations, then have ChatGPT solve them and display the answers on the calculator’s screen.
The data link appears to be glacially slow and typing long strings of text using a graphing calculator keypad feels like a lot of work, but the device’s capabilities are impressive nonetheless. And ChromaLock is not finished. They plan to add more features in the future, including improvements to the large language model’s functionality, web browsing and email functionality, video playback, and Discord access.
