Scratch Build – In Progress Project [THING] Raspberry Pi competition, COMPLETE

Thanks Pranja, Still no RPi in the post so I'm waiting too

Cheers Dreps, I'll pass on the temptation to to say something derogatory about my girlfriend, I dont fancy living in slapsville today

 

UPDATE 27/02/13

At last the Pi has been delivered, I ordered a couple of "bits" with it, a lil tiny heatsink and a 90 degree HDMI adapter (more of that later)

So unwrapping the pi I was suprised that it was slightly bigger than I thought. Yeah I know it's tiny but it was enough to get me flapping about if it would fit or not.



The heatsink is really small and I had a bit of a play to see what it will eventually look like fitted



and a bit of a play with the camera too



Sometimes you get lucky and stuff just lines up, the HDMI cable will run off to the back of the hand, hiding much of the "fugly"



and sometimes not so lucky. The composite RCA connector and Audio jack are slightly blocked by a finger, a slight adjustment will make them accessible (even though I'll use HDMI)



and a final pic to give you an idea of how the RPi fits inside the hand.



I'm now left with a dilemma, do I carry on with the original plan or just let the imagination fly with it ? Damn this was s'posed to be easy

 

Now this looks really nice!
I think it would be a cool idea to mount it on a little stand or so that the RPi doesen't touch the ground? And cmon, you're almost done. Just make that finger a little smaller...

 

Thanks, Yeah it is going to have a stand as I want it to sit at a certain angle, the finger thing is a small fix, but I always had the intention of making a small case too, so not quite finished yet

 

Looks done to me.
-Are the card reader slots vertical? That could be a problem in my case... Also, there appears to be a splotch of raspberry on your Pi.

 

Grrr not another one saying it's done but I think I know what you guys mean, It does look OK as is, but I did have something else in mind. So i'll keep going and if it goes tits up, I can go back to how it is now and deny all knowledge

The card reader is horizontal (see photo) no that isn't mine but a handy lil pic just the same, it confirms the connections i'm going to use for my fan.

.

and as for that splotch (cool word btw) I hadn't noticed it but on closer inspection it's actually a bit of poor print on the CE mark (just call me wild, reckless and devil may care but I won't be losing sleep over it.)

 

Ok, so the card reader is on the back now...

The spot could be an inspector mark.

 

Glad the pic clears up the position of the card reader, not to worried about the splotch but if it is an inspection marker they could have done it on the back of the board

 

well done mate, great impressing carving work, the PI is really a "HANDY" little gadjet isnt it.. you do need a stand though so that you dont damage the ports underneath.

 

Thanks Addis
Handy..... Yeah I geddit. The Pi is pretty cool gadget, I'm looking forward to going back to basics. I think we're spoilt with all the kit that's available these days and kinda made PCs childs play. I remember playing with ZX spectrums and the C64, but I don't miss having to load program's by cassette.

The stand is work in progress will update tomorrow

 

This is simply fantastic.

I have to be honest when I first started looking through the pictures I wasn't sure what this was going to turn out like, it has hugely surpassed my expectations! Well done dude!

 

Hey Thanks Matticus,

Yeah I'd have to admit my concept sketches are not the best, I don't do the 3D modelling or rendering, (handy if you're gonna use a CNC) but the builds do work them selves out

 

UPDATE 04/03/13

OK have been busy today, after having to work the weekend, I've finally grabbed a few hours to work on the project.

The stand was the first thing that needed sorting. for this all I have used is some scrap plexi, some stand offs and large case screws.

The plexi was cut into two disks, I drilled three 3mm holes, 3mm deep, heated up the threads on the stand offs and inserted them in the holes. The plexi melts into the threads and hey presto easy threaded holes.



The case screws just screw in from the under side (I can't spell underneath) and they make pretty effective feet.


(apologies for the poor pic, I'll sort that later)

The top has a palm shaped hole to support the hand, this was very tricky to get right, the tip here is to remove the material very carefully, I must have spent a few hours trying to get that right and still it needs some work. The edges still need sanding down and they'll be flame polished. So here's where I'm at now with (almost) everything together



You'll notice that the Pi is now mounted to a small piece of plexi, The same method again for the stand offs. I have had a rethink about the case, I haven't been happy with the design as it's too square (yeah I know nothing like a good dose of Boxism) So apart from me being a boxist I have been playing around with a few ideas and settled on a top grill. The fan will be mounted underneath the grill and the grill mounted to the small overhangs on the backing plate that the Pi is mounted too.



The grill still needs some work, two layers need re-doing and the spacers need reducing to fit the fan, again the edges will be sanded down and flame polished.

So there you have it, design sorted and few niggles to iron out but very nearly there

 

UPDATE 08/03/13

So now I have finished off the top grill, shortened and sleeved the fan cable.



So fitted together it looks something like this



The fan still needs to be secured to the grill, but the grill is secured to the assembly with a small bracket made from a small piece of steel.



and finally another pic, The cable will run over the top of the assembly and over the fingers when slotted inside THING.



The plexi didn't respond as I had expected to the flame polishing, I think the melting point was to high and it wasn't melting the surface with gentle heat. Too much was just setting the plexi on fire, so I guess I'll just have to do it the hard way.

 

Oh dude, that grill assembly with round platforms is awesome, very nice work on all this.

Side note, love the hdmi angle adapter, looks like a comedy spring boxing glove waiting to spring out at people touching it, bonus lol points.

 

Cheers Wayne, I'm happy with how the grill turned out as for the hdmi adapter, I wonder where your head is at sometimes ?

 

Very creative! Nice to see you've had a "hand" in doing some Raspberry Pi modding. ;P

 

That is the nicest USB port cooler...The ONLY usb port cooler in existence.

 

Thanks Scirocco

The fan isn't fixed to the grill yet, it angles in toward the heat sink



Having said that the reality is its going to cool bugger all, it's just bling

 

loving the grill. how to make a Simple PCB just awesome right here!