My handheld build (Pic heavy)

Mark_McQ

Specs:

Pi4 4GB model
Elecrow 5" screen
PiJuice hat
PiJuice 12000mah battery
Arduino Micro
Noctua 40x10mm fan

The Arduino is running the XInput library by David Madison. The Pi sees it as an Xbox pad. The analog triggers use Allegro AH503 hall sensors, small neodymium magnets and a 150gram keyboard switch spring.

Case was printed in AMZ3D black and red PLA.

Designed the PCBs in EasyEDA. Forgot to change some of them to a black finish when I uploaded the gerber files to the manufacturer site. Annoying. They use soft-touch tactile buttons. JST-XH connectors join everything together.

This is 7 months of designing, printing, changing a tiny thing by 1mm, reprinting, and then scrapping the design for a better one. Never though I'd get this thing finished, I started this last June.

This was the very first design test.

After printing it out though, it was just too big and bulky and I ended up starting over from scratch.

I designed everything in small sections to test the fitments, and then once I had all the right dimensions, started building the full model in Fusion 360 from there. This is some of the test rigs for the screen fitting.

Enclosure tests.

Test jigs and fitments for buttons, D-Pads and joysticks.

While I was waiting for the PCBs to arrive, I exported them from EasyEDA as dxf files and used that to 3D print fake PCBs for testing fitments.

Prototyping the controls.

This is some of the renders of the original version and the final one. I'd like to revisit the Nintendo colours idea using the CM4 module at some point.

theissdev

@mark_mcq Very nice, man!

markyh444

@mark_mcq lovely job. Well done!

h2805270

Do you plan on doing an RPi CM4/CM4 Lite build?
I'd think the smaller form factor would be fitting.

Mark_McQ

@h2805270 I'm tempted by it. At some point I'm going to look into other battery/charging options to see if I can get a smaller footprint. I'd like to build a V2 that's much slimmer. This one is ok for playing but the battery does add quite a bit of weight.

h2805270

@mark_mcq
Forgot to mention.
You've got a great thing going on here, I just think you can do the D-pad better (idk how it feels on your end, but that's just my opinion from what I can see in the photos).

btw, I suggest looking into the leaked PiBoys for a comparison:

Mark_McQ

@h2805270 I originally had a regular style d-pad but the distance between the tact buttons on my PCB were causing issues with ghost button presses when I would press in one direction and sometimes it would also push the edge of another button's switch. I almost redesigned the PCB from scratch but them I remembered the PSP d-pad buttons and did them like that. They work really well, but if there's another version I might try doing it like a joypad where it uses a silicone membrane to short out contacts directly on the PCB.

WilsonB

NEW Experimental PiBoy Discord!
Alright.. I've been using the Eperimental Pi PiBoy w/ various Linux distros and it feels like the developer / creator is extremely busy to help most of the time..
I created a PiBoy Experimental Discord for discussions , ideas and help.
https://discord.gg/rcQdmv6Uxr

If you have one, come join...
Cheers..

mitu

@wilsonb Please stop spamming the forum with the discord link.

Troopaking

@mark_mcq
Dude good job. I have been doing a very similar project on and off. With less success than you.
I am now doing a cm4 inside a NS Lite housing. Similar layout with a 5.5inch screen. Been making progress, paying for custom pcb now.

Pylades

@mark_mcq Nice work. I am looking for something like this! Where can I place my order ? :)

Mark_McQ

@pylades Sadly it's a one-off. Couldn't face doing all that wiring again for any amount of money. It was torture getting everything in there.