Omron 86
Project Overview:
Clean lines. Bold blocks of color. Satisfyingly chunky buttons. A vacuum fluorescent display– the Omron 86 has it all!
The Omron 86 was produced by the Omron Tateisi Electronics Co. from 1974-75. In addition to its OEM production color schemes, the Omron 86 was white-labeled as the Braun ET11 in 1975 as Braun began to dip their toes in the calculator game. In the following years, Braun's ET44 and ET66 calculators became the inspiration for the original iPhone's calculator app.
From Left to Right (not to scale): Omron 86 (1974), Braun ET11 (1975), Braun ET44 (1977), Apple Calculator App iOS 1 (2007), Apple Calculator App iOS 11 (2017)
Perhaps there's only so much one can do with a grid of round buttons but I think there's a clear aesthetic lineage in the shape, layout and color coding of digits and operators leading back to the Omron 86.
I decided this would be a fun object to lightly reverse-engineer and an excuse to buy a calculator with a vacuum fluorescent display.
CAD:
While the Omron 86 seems like a simple filleted brick at first glance, manufacturing constraints such as draft angle and a sweeping parting line between enclosure components create subtle variations in surface transitions.
Disassembling and cataloging the different components.
Orthographic views of the model including a few critical internal components. My goal was to accurately capture manufacturing details such as the draft angle and internal registration features.
Detail of the VFD (vacuum fluorescent display).
