Hacking a Casio Calculator to "Cheat"

Students have developed all kinds of tricks and devices to cheat during exams. One of the main criticisms suggests that if they had invested the same time and effort in studying, they wouldn't need such tricks... but from a certain point of view, those projects only celebrate creativity, intelligence, and the ability to improvise. The Neutrino YouTube channel points in that direction with a hack for a Casio calculator, which basically turns it into a mini computer with WiFi support.

The concept of "cheating in class" is much more complex than we think. On the one hand, we have teachers struggling (and losing) against the use of mobile phones, marches in China of students demanding "the right to cheat" in hypercompetitive environments, services for someone to "take online classes" replacing the student, and more. On the other hand, there are criticisms of current learning methods. Evaluating students only by their ability to memorize data makes less and less sense, as does prohibiting the use of specific tools.

Regardless of our position on this, one thing is certain: Creativity never stops. That leads us to a small YouTube channel called Neutrino, and to what is probably its most successful video to date: The transformation of a Casio calculator into a device with an OLED screen and Internet access, courtesy of an ESP8266 module. It all begins with a little surgery on the calculator, removing its "solar panel" and making room for the installation of the OLED module.

How to modify a Casio calculator

One of the most interesting aspects of the design is the use of magnets as a replacement for physical buttons. Placing a magnet over a reed switch turns on the module, while two Hall effect sensors are used to control the menu. The "physical" part of the hack isn't that difficult. The software is what could complicate things a bit, since it's necessary to create a profile in Firebase to act as a backend, and manipulate some Arduino code. However, the reward is great, with the user obtaining a critical piece of text during an exam, or contacting another calculator with a similar hack.

I am the first to admit it: It's not as practical as it seems, but we can't help but recognize its attention to detail, including the need to hide the buttons. Several suggestions quickly emerged in the comments, among which the use of an ESP32 module with an included camera stands out. Capturing images of the questions to be solved is much more interesting if there is someone willing to help on the other side...