DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM
|
DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments Le Clown Magique
| Date of introduction: | 1991 | Display technology: | |
| New price: | Display size: | n.a. | |
| Size: | 10.8" x 9.0" x 7.5" | ||
| Weight: | 17 ounces | Serial No: | |
| Batteries: | 4*AA cells | Date of manufacture: | mth 06 year 1992 |
| AC-Adapter: | Origin of manufacture: | China (A) | |
| Precision: | Integrated circuits: | TSP50C11 | |
| Memories: | |||
| Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner |
Nothing
else than the French speaking edition of the original Stack-A-Round
Clown. In
Germany the toy was sold as Magic Clown and in
United Kingdom as Chatter-Ring Clown.
Five colorful rings, each representing a facial feature make
up "Clarance the Clown's" face. Clarance recognizes each ring as it is
placed on, or removed from, the stacking post. His friendly voice gives the name
of the feature and explains the purpose of each part with a clever rhyme. Rings
can be stacked in any order, allowing the child to create over 1000 faces.
The toy is intended for toddlers ages 12 to 36 month.
Dismantling this Le Clown Magique manufactured in June 1992 by (or for) Texas Instruments in China for the French speaking market reveals a technology very similar to the various Touch & Talkies. The design of the Magic Melody Tell is centered around a TSP50C11 Voice Synthesis Processor (VSP) and makes use of just one Integrated Circuit:
| • TSP50C11/CSM11xxx: TSP50C50 VSP (Voice Synthesis Processor) with 8-bit microcontroller and 16k Bytes Mask ROM for both program and voice and 128 Bytes + 16 Nibbles RAM |
The integrated speech synthesizer introduced more than 10 years ago with the Speak & Spell will immediately create funny sounds.
Other toys for toddlers are the Discovery Depot, Listen & Learn, Magic Sorter, Peek-A-Boo Zoo and Storytime Sorter.
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, July 12, 2005. No reprints without written permission.