HandiPi Is a Raspberry Pi 4-Powered Cyberdeck with a Customized Keyboard and Display

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A supply of inspiration

The PICOomputer PCB made by Peter “Bobricius” Misenko is a service board that enables for a Raspberry Pi Pico to be connected to a display screen and keyboard. This setup lets customers create enjoyable, interactive functions for the Picos which may in any other case be tough to assemble. Partly impressed by this product, GitHub person brickbots wished to design a service board of his personal after realizing that merely putting a Raspberry Pi 4 right into a case could be far too boring. Along with including a built-in keyboard, this venture, known as the HandiPi, was developed with desktop use in thoughts as an exterior keyboard, mouse, and monitor could possibly be simply linked.

An outline

With the aim now clearly outlined, brickbots performed round with a few totally different layouts, however the one he settled upon strongly resembles a Nintendo Recreation Boy handheld console. On the prime is a 4.3″ touchscreen show, which eliminates the necessity for a mouse or trackpad. Under it is a customized 36-key keyboard that features a 5-way directional button for making exact picks. Final of all, a 5000mAh battery pack offers sufficient energy for a number of hours of transportable use.

Creating the tiny keyboard

The format of the keyboard was crucial because it tremendously determines how usable the system is. This model of the HandiPi contains a 4×12 ortho-style keyboard that may be constructed utilizing all through-hole elements, which lets relative novices make one for themselves. Studying these inputs is an ATmega328 DIP IC operating a model of QMK firmware. QMK is a versatile software program initiatives that may run on a wide range of AVR and Arm-based chips whereas outputting characters over a digital USB interface. The final a part of the keyboard was an extra PCB with cutouts for each button in order that it might probably act as a faceplate and conceal the underlying circuitry.

Including the PiSugar 2 Professional

As a result of battery administration is tough, not to mention attempting to design a BMS from scratch, brickbots opted to make use of a PiSugar 2 Professional module. It really works like many different Raspberry Pi HATS in that it simply attaches to the board whereas having almost an identical dimensions together with its battery. Moreover, it helps uninterruptible energy provide (UPS) performance as it might probably preserve fixed energy to the Pi even when the exterior energy supply is disconnected. Nonetheless, because of the top of the board, the unique battery socket was eliminated in favor of two massive wires. The tiny energy swap was additionally changed by a bigger exterior one as properly.

Meeting

The fully 3D-printed protecting case is available in three main sections. Practically every part mounts to the center because it comprises a number of M2 warmth inserts for attaching the keyboard and display screen. The underside of the display screen is designed for a Raspberry Pi B’s footprint, so brickbots added the PiSugar 2 Professional, stacked the Raspberry Pi 4 on prime, and linked the CSI ribbon cable. One last modification was carried out on the Pi, which concerned desoldering the tall Ethernet and USB ports in favor of straight attaching the keyboard with a couple of wires. Lastly, a heatsink was added on the again for passive cooling and the ultimate plastic bezels had been screwed onto the entrance.

The working system

Making all of this {hardware} perform accurately is a standard set up of Debian-derived Raspberry Pi OS. Nonetheless, the everyday window supervisor was changed with i3 due to its nice compatibility with light-weight machines and with how properly it performs utilizing only a keyboard. Extra superior features similar to shifting focus, maximizing/minimizing home windows, and switching desktops are carried out by toggling a modification key after which urgent both h, j, ok, or l.

Utilizing the HandiPi

The HandiPi is supposed for use as a standard desktop pc beneath most circumstances, owing to its HDMI and USB ports. However when the necessity arises for a extremely transportable minicomputer, it may be shortly disconnected and utilized in a wide range of functions. You may learn extra about this venture right here in brickbots’s GitHub repository.

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