As single board computers have become ever smaller and more powerful, so have those experimenting with them tried to push the boundaries of the machines they can be used in. First we had cyberdecks, and now we have handheld terminals. Of this latter class we have a particularly nice example from [Random Alley Cat]. It takes a Raspberry Pi Zero 2W and a handful of other parts, and makes them with a 3D printed case into something very professional indeed.
One of the problems with these designs has always been tidily packing away all the parts with their cables, and it’s one she solves by making a chassis to hold all the parts, and a case which fits around that. In a stroke the case no longer has to provide a dual function, allowing for a much easier internal layout. Her screen is a Pimoroni Hyperpixel, the keyboard is an Xbox 360 accessory, and the power supply is an off the shelf Pi UPS board and battery.
We particularly like the accesses on the underside of this machine to access the Pi ports, and the ventilation holes and external case details. It’s not perfect, as she says in the video below it’s not the best Linux keyboard. but we could really see ourselves using this.
If you follow handheld cyberdecks, we have a few treats for you on these pages. Not all of them run Linux, for example.
Thanks [Sysop] for the tip!
to fat, short time working
sorry but still old pocket vaio is better or sony palm ux50 worling longest
Oh man, this brings back memories of the Agdnda VR3!
That was an Linux PDA, 25 years ago!
https://linuxdevices.org/agendas-agenda-a-linux-based-open-pda-a/
Looks like a sensibly chunky level of external size to me – actually looks comfortable to operate because of it, and the screen seems like a huge step up from the old ones. As for battery life I expect this is better than any of the old ones are now, as it actually has a brand new battery.
Yes there is some obvious potential for a more refined version with extra tweaks to suit your desired use but as a simple to replicate project by design it really works for that, while also being a rather potent mini PC with a great deal of flexibility in what you can use it for those old devices just wouldn’t do at all..
Number of times it was used after making the video: 1
(Optimistic estimate.)
Yeah probably cannibalized to get that keyboard and pi back for the next one. Youtube is a business, it’s ok, it is what it is
Probably not, ACOS is pretty active in Meshtastic. She does great design work and her stuff is pretty widely used in the community.
As they are clearly working on a V2 I expect this got plenty of use for what is effectively a well finished prototype.
If I had one I’d probably end up using it quite often, in similar fashion to the way I use the steamdeck, but taking up even less deskspace and with the screen more visible over the junk on the desk when put down. Also being a little less annoying for having a ‘real’ keyboard to change references or look stuff up. So I would want to add a kickstand and I’d probably want to look at putting a decent DAC in as I like good audio in my devices (plus I think I still have the wolfson card from an old project)…
So what? For many, including many who read hackaday, it’s building it that is fun. I used mine once after I made it. Sat on shelf after. I had great fun making it. Mine was squished into a case for a pair of glasses. So quite a challenge. :)
I would use a second TFT that is stylus compatible for a virtual keyboard. It’s not 2 finger compatible but I feel these physical keyboards are getting rare. Kudos to the creator! Better than anything I would be able to make since I take shortcuts.
you take shortcuts if you care about reaching a destination :)
I also like the use of Midnight Commander to showcase the keyboard usefulness here! 🙂
While I have nothing against stylus input options if you are going to do that surely you don’t want a second screen just a single larger screen so you can make full use of the stylus. As to me at least the whole benefit of the separate HID element smaller screen design concepts is that haptic feedback, useable by feel alone keyboard (and/or trackball mouse, media controls, gamepad etc), where the whole point to a stylus is giving precise handwriting/drawing perhaps with a right click type option and gesture control – all of which would work better for having a larger canvas
If the price would scale linearly with display surface I’d buy a larger. Maybe I am not aware of a cheap large one that supports a stylus. Personally it’s difficult for me to keep an overview about the current market and what I should get.
Ah yes budget constraints might bite you and when it comes to availability of a stylus capable screen, or an overlay you can laminate onto whatever other display yourself I’ve not looked at what is available myself in a very very long time. Though I imagine a spare for the Samsung phones with stylus might well be the most available option.
Personally I’ve held on to some Toughbook CF-H1 with the intention of reusing those nice in all light levels screens and probably modding the outer shell lightly for quite a while though (and from time to time despite the terrible even when it was new Atom processor I’ve fired one of them up as its a slightly nicer drawing/doodle tablet formfactor than the almost equally old CF-19 that is the best laptop I own (Do have a Steamdeck now though))
The SenseCAP Indicator almost does that: https://www.seeedstudio.com/SenseCAP-Indicator-D1-p-5643.html
Really nice idea, but it seriously needs more screws. Having to open up a case by sliding a sharp edge in to a line can be pretty furstrating, I’ve a few commercial items with snap-fit covers of this kind and getting in to them is horrible. Also, that kind of no-screws case is going to rely on the flexing of a piece of plastic somewhere in it, multiple snap-in-to-place tabs I’d guess, and these will eventually wear out. Also, it might fall open when you really don’t want it to. A screw going in to a hole, and a hexagonal sink to hold a nut at the other edge will never wear out, never fall open by accident, and the tool to open it, a screwdriver, is almost as widely available as a sharp edge, but much more straighforward to use. Yes, commercial designs like to use snap fits, because they are trying to shave fractions of a penny of a design, but screws are cheap, so we should hold ourselves to better standards than penny-pinching mass-production lines do.
heh it’s all a matter of perspective. my last few laptops snap together and screw, and i find that pretty usable and i haven’t broken the snap tabs in a long time. but the real test for me is phones…i’ve had enough phones that are just glue holding it together that the ones that are snap, or even snap+glue, are much preferred.
but all your points are right on — it’s definitely not as secure as screws….but fwiw (sorry to be contrary) screws and sinks do wear out and fall open by accident :( they’re much better than snaps but they’re far from immune to wear and failure
A plastic spring doesn’t have to be fatigued even by regular use – all about how it is designed and staying within that elastic limit, which I’d think this does very well. It also looked like there was an easy guide the tool in notch to help you get between the shell sides with the prying implement, so it is for a snap fit really quite friendly.
Also there are benefits to cases that can under duress detach before the plastic breaks – I’m thinking things like those Nokia Brick phones that you could drop from high enough it probably hits terminal velocity into concrete and nothing is harmed by that impact most of the time – the case has sprung off no doubt, but it didn’t actually break and absorbed some of that impact in the process…
Screws and bolts are still the preferred method for my own projects in general, I am just trying to point out the whole ” we should hold ourselves to better standards than penny-pinching mass-production lines do.” could easily include designing around plastic clips as they are not inherently wrong, and in this case it is darned close to if not as good as it can be with plastic clips, and really wouldn’t be made better for having screws for most users.
It occurs to me that, with a handheld where you care a lot more about ‘portability’ than ‘mobility’, you could add a tiny IMU and use gestures to switch keyboard ‘layers’. IE – tilt the top forward or back to change case. Maybe left/right for ctrl/alt. I’d want a quick on-screen glyph to show context change, but that wouldn’t be too difficult.
I love that people try things and share on Internet. Personally I would not use it but I’m sure you enjoyed making it and learned something on the way 👍🏻
At this point just get a used Key1 ou Key2.
*or
I knew that keyboard looked familiar = an xbox chatpad! You just reminded me I have one…somewhere. Best controller attachment ever!
Your device is neat too — crazy how it’s put together – no screws
Glad to see the 360 chatpad in there. That thing has been an unsung hero in 4 of my projects so far. It has a good feel and size and is dead simple to add. As for the total package, a Cybiko would probably still do.
There are a little of arm chair quarterbacks on here! It’s called development for a reason! I like the idea and Alleycat does great designs. I’m sure it will only get more refined from here! Keep up the great work.👍