Raspberry Pi Laptop Project Ideas

So, I want to build a laptop case with a small screen and plop a Raspberry Pi 3 in it. I'm aware of things like PiTop but I want to build this myself. You can already buy little ass screens made just for RasPi3s. Any ideas guys? >inb4 "just google it" >I've seen ideas already, I'm asking you for YOUR'S.

This chan site is dead af.

>>3 Shut up. >>2 Like a Pinebook or whatever? How big of a screen are you looking for?

Oh really? Save yourself some time and buy a ThinkPad. It's fun to build but not very practical for long duration use.

>>4 >answers question with a question >>5 >Totally disregards OP and says to not even do it, buy a ThinkPad. Yeah >>4, this chan site is dead and never coming back.

>>6 >replies with a physical example of exactly what op wants >says I'm ignoring op I supplied an example of interest that I made(See op). My advice was to not do it and just play with a "native" pi. All the extra is just extra. If you want to be light weight, get a USB monitor and a small keyboard and your golden. But you sir, you didn't add anything. bitch .

>>2 How about a sort of switch blade computer? I literally just thought of this right now but were bouncing ideas around right? You can have a sort of black box casing. A small workable LCD screen. maybe 3.5 or 5 inches or something. When the screen slides out horizontal, left or right, a spring loaded keyboard pops out toward the user. It would be mounted on some kind of underside guide rail. Then the casing can be folded behind the screen to make it compact and prop it up on a table or something.

>>6 >whines about the sites >thinks that is better than answering a question with a question or disregarding OPs question all together you're just self absorbed asswipe thinking that everything around him should cater to his needs and desires fuarrrk off kiddo

I've played around with the idea of using a kindle screen or similar e-ink display with a raspberry pi to make a super low power portable computer. I know replacement 3rd gen kindle screens are available cheaply on ebay. The low refresh rate would probably be fine if you stick to the terminal. The biggest problem is that e-ink displays are tricky to drive. They use really high voltage pulses and weird signals to update specific regions. You would need some kind of driver board, although I had a hard time finding documentation and they're all proprietary. Maybe not the most feasible project, but it could work.

Last one for now

>>10 Yeah proprietary displays sound like a difficult project but just reversing the driver sounds like an awesome project. I've thought about sticking my raspi in an old modem case I got laying around but haven't moved an arm for that project, maybe in the summer when I also plan on getting SDR working with the pi. >>11 Great stuff, interested in what you do with that setup. With wifi that would be a remote login dream. Also, is that raspian? If yes then have you considered trying arch for that setup?

>>11 What is the size on that? Can we see it in your hand?

The RasPi requires nonfree software to even boot. Hold out for the EOMA68s - Going to be the first and only singleboard with an FSF Respects Your Freedom certificate. https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop

>>14 Good lord, this looks atrocious. The worst Chinese budget SoC from 2013 and they ask for twice as much as RPi. Well, they call it "CPU" even though CPU is Cortex A7, A20 is SoC.

>>16 RPi is pathetically underpowered tbh And whats really wrong with SoCs?

>>17 >RPi is pathetically underpowered Great, because this one has like 1/3 of the performance at best. >And whats really wrong with SoCs? That they advertise it as Allwinner A20 CPU, which is not a CPU.

>>12 Yep I have raspian on there. Had to download all the touch screen drivers before I installed the screen itself. Have not thought about arch but it's and attractive idea. I just finished my first arch build and I'm pretty happy with it. I mostly use if for travel but I'm afraid tsa would snag it if I flew. I really does look like a bomb on the inside... >>13 The case is 3d printed using space offline. There have two haves and also hinges that work nicely. I have also recently added a fan I yanked out an old laptop.

>>20 Specs* online and there are* ...christ

I'm planning to get https://www.adafruit.com/product/3062 load a pi with some VOIP software, and use it as a smartphone. Any ideas what I should get for a battery pack? Eventually I'd like to set it into a 3D-printed digivice case (based on pic related), but I need a printer first.

>>5 >Save yourself some time and buy a ThinkPad Not OP but what ThinkPad model do you recommend me?

>>23 Check the ThinkPad thread, the op has a great recommendations link with tons of good info. I have an x220t and I love it but I'm a noob

this isn't strictly on topic but this design from NGE (picrelated) looks like it could be interesting for a diy portable computer. Unfortunately I have 0 /Δ/ skills so I wouldn't even know where to start. Also I know in the show this is just an interface and not a computer on it's own but it looks cool to me

>>28 Definitely interesting, but not doable. You would need screen with that aspect ratio, good luck with that. You could also use bigger one and just hide the rest of it behind the case, but why would you do that.

>>28 >>29 Just posted this and realized that you could do it with two screens next to each other, but this would need some proper graphics chip that could do that. These SoCs usually can't.

>>28 Looks like some of the early electronic typewriters. They had wide screens like that, but LCD.

>>28 >>31 Very much reminiscent of early portables like the TRS-80 Model 100, only with a more modern laptop-looking keyboard (w. trackpad?). You can get character LCDs of a similar, even if not identical, form factor (40x4 characters) pretty easily from DigiKey or other suppliers, albeit they would be of limited use for this application. Haven't looked for more suitable graphic LCD modules, but they might be available.

>>29 >Definitely interesting, but not doable. It's always nice to be skeptical of something interesting, but don't dismiss that idea immediately. This aspect ratio is pretty available actually, not even limiting to component distributors (see [1]). Of course specialty LCDs aren't as cheap (ballparking at 50 bucks, pic related [2]) as the usual aspect ratios, but my past experiences show you'll spend money, time and resources in this price range anyway regarding something custom having a full color LCD. This out-of-the-box/lazy solution might not be perfect given by using composite and granted, the aspect ratio is not spot on. What I'm getting at that OP shouldn't be discouraged by the display constraint and general /diy/ability of this idea. The bigger problem with building a diy portable computer for field work is battery life vs. performance anyway. This holds especially true when going the easy Ben Hack style route of slapping a full monitor system onto it, which does need its fair share of power draw due to the unnecessary features and losses in efficiency, both data-signal and powerwise. As long as it doesn't need it to be a fully featured cyberdeck generating a virtual world for a HUD, I see no issue in this regard also. Also here's a read that looks promising, seems like it got everything presented, and possibly even more covered on that topic: http://blog.fireside.co/how-to-choose-lcd-screen-for-raspberry-pi/ sources: 1: http://lmgtfy.com/?s=d&q=!ebay+car+rear+view+mirror+mount+lcd 2: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-W-Security-LCD-TFT-Wide-Screen-Car-Back-Rear-View-Parking-Mirror-Monitor-Video-/172306517490?hash=item281e44cdf2:g:ebEAAOSw9NdXsSlH&vxp=mtr

>>10 >although I had a hard time finding documentation Some guy reverse engineered one of those: http://essentialscrap.com/eink/ >Here is an example schematic on how to connect the ED060SC4V2 E-ink panel to a STM32L151 microcontroller. With small changes, it should work just as well for most other E-ink panel types. I've been wanting to do a project like that too, except with an fpga instead of a pi.

>>22 how will you use it as a smartphone? touchscreen buttons i guess? you'll need a gsm module if you want to actually do "phone" calls >>28 this would be a huge pain on your neck i dont see why you'd want to use this instead of a laptop

I'm about to finish something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWlZ3B_hq_g, all I need is a case. I've got framebuffer copying so that it can run things like RetroPie. I personally am okay with using RPI even though it isn't completely free, because I think https://github.com/christinaa/rpi-open-firmware is making great progress. >>33 There is a project called PyLCI which attempts to make a user interface through OLED. I could not figure out any way to make a good user experience through such a small screen, so if anybody goes that route, PyLCI might be your best bet.

There are tons of e-ink displays out there for around 10-20$ with generic SPI. Making a driver should not be hard - I saw arduinos driving them.

>>10 A good alternative for such use-cases (low-power, low-performance, open to low-effort ideally) would be to use a MemoryLCD. It would fit the requirement for a diy watch replacing my casio, extending a digital watch to be a simple notification display and remote, rather than going full smartwatch. Could've lumped them together with e-ink under the e-paper type display technology, but I think it's important to make a destinction between those two as a MemLCD is dead simple to drive while e-ink may not be as trivial.

>>35 >Of course specialty LCDs aren't as cheap (ballparking at 50 bucks, pic related [2]) as the usual aspect ratios, >This aspect ratio is pretty available actually, not even limiting to component distributors (see [1]). Sorry but this screen is literally 160x90... Or 16:9, which you can get as easily as 4:3. It's just 11" 16:9 screen, what is so special about it? Pic that >>28 posted is more like 24:9, if not 32:9

>>57 >whole post Oh, well thanks for pointing that out. You are spot on with the aspect ratio, measurement says roughly 355:100, which boils down to 32:9. Guess >>28 will have a way harder time then I expected, even starting this project.

>>43 The Adafruit screen that that case is made for is a touchscreen. I'm debating whether to get a GSM module or just use Linphone with Ekiga as my ITSP and stay on wifi.

I have no idea what I'd do with one beyond using it for flashing BIOS chips for Libreboot.

Yo I'm building a box that interfaces outlets with 8 channel relay that's controlled by rpi running a nodejs app. If anyone's interested let me know I'm releasing tutorial videos and the node app

>>20 I have that little keyboard, it's great. I swear to god I charged it one time like 2 years ago and it has run since without a charge. Also free unnecessary laser pointer? The cats love it.

Neat

I suggest using it for robotics projects

anyone using a fully functional Debian system with an Arduino? Raspberries ethernet's is proprietary. Which I would not want to use for that matter. Unless it has changed.

>>462 You know an arduino is a microcontroller right. It can't run Debian, or do you mean like developing arduino stuff on a Debian box? I've done that before. It's just C++ and a USB > serial adapter to flash the arduino. If you want a SoC that is open that can run a *nix desktop maybe look at the beagle boards.

i use mine for the usual openvpn/tor server. you might want to make it a security camera...

>>2 I actually just found this today online, thought you guys might like it. personally I don't like wireless things, so for me wired is better. https://www.adafruit.com/product/857 I'd like to get a Pi zero, 3d print an enclosure, and make it into a small libretto-like laptop.

>>479 >3d print an enclosure Doable but takes a while to print I'd imagine. You can get a full enclosure+keyboard for that money by buying a defective 90s notebook. On the other, with 3D printing you get all the freedom regarding the design. On the topic of CoM and soykaf, I recently bought an old busted Olivetti to convert into a rugged computer/terminal. Really looking forward to that one, since I want to feel such keyboard feels once more. Even considering flashing it with Plan9, since I dig that everything's net-sharable files.

>>11 Ebin

Ayyyy

>>492 Not OP, but also thinking about building something with Raspberry Pi. Do you think that a case made of lego bricks could be good?

>>531 It's OK if you're making it for the shelf. IMO, best material for diy laptop case is stacked and glued plywood. Tons of finishes available (including rubber-like paint), most importantly it's cheap as heck.

>>29 >You would need screens with that aspect ratio Here are some screens with that aspect ratio: http://www.panelook.com/product_cat.php?catid=38&tag=53 Here is one on Alibaba: https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/8-8-Bar-Type-TFT-LCD_60346923083.html

>>530 yo what is that keyboard on the right? looks like a type writer. awesome. plz giv details

>>533 Well, yes, you still need compatible driverboard for HDMI<->LVDS... I don't think that $300 just for a screen stuff is feasible DIY project.

>>534 looks like a this to me: https://www.massdrop.com/buy/magicforce-68-key-mini-mechanical-keyboard but in general there are lotsa '''typewritter''' keycaps available on the Net, if you have any old cherry stemmed keyboard its not hard to find styled keycaps.

I have my first Raspberry Pi and want to play with it a bit. For now I wanted to write my own fullscreen menu with big icons, so I could pick whatever I want using controller. I was thinking I'd just write application for this using my favorite framework, but isn't it an overkill? Is there some faster, simple solution for that?

>>14 Beagleboard Black can LibreBoot [0] [0] https://libreboot.org/docs/install/bbb_setup.html

>>753 What would be faster or simpler than writing some barebones thing yourself? >>754 What the fug is the BBB libre hardware?

>>756 It runs libre bootloader and OS, unlike Raspberry. This is why it was chosen as an example for libreboot flashing hardware. It does not run libreboot itself, though. And there is no real need to use a middleman full-fledged computer for that purpose, apart from liberty and security concerns, you can do this with any SPI flasher supported by flashrom software.

Have a laptop that I'm having difficulty converting to linux, so might try something along these lines. Or maybe, something I'm thinking is to use a Nintendo 3DS XL as a case for a ras, any ideas on what this would require?