There are infinite varieties of cyberdeck you could make, each with their own inspirations. Today, [RadioactiveArtist] shows us a M.A.S.K. lunchbox cyberdeck faithful to the 80s show.
To know why putting a cyberdeck in a lunchbox is exactly the kind of thing you would see in the show, [RadioactiveArtist] briefly explains what both are (but we’ll skip the former): M.A.S.K. is a cartoon running from ’85 to ’86 where ordinary objects transform to reveal a hidden purpose–and this cyberdeck does just that by hiding in M.A.S.K. merchandise: the lunch box.
Like any cyberdeck build, it starts as a pile of components on a desk. It’s made from a Raspberry Pi 5, a cute little 75% keyboard, stereo speakers, a card reader with some USB 3 ports and of course a battery made with four 18650 cells. After testing the electronics on the bench, [RadioactiveArtist] test-fits them in the lunch box before revealing the plan: keyboard and speakers on the bottom, thinner half, the rest on top, and the screen on a second hinge so it can flip up when opened.
The construction itself doesn’t harm the lunch box, because it shouldn’t be obvious that this isn’t just lunch. (Bonus points because the box itself is vintage.) Everything that was screwed into, was sacrificial material like plastic, which was then placed into the lunch box. The keyboard and speakers are fully enclosed on the bottom, which looks very sleek, but the top is exposed–both because it’s easier to access and fix, and because it looks cool.
[RadioactiveArtist] goes over all this and more, in the video below:
All my portable computing needs are fulfilled with some generic Dell laptop from 2024 that doesn’t make me look like a total bluehatter.
OK, I’ll bite. What do you mean by “bluehatter”?
It made me curious as well…
A “blue hat” security professional is typically an external consultant or expert brought in to find system flaws and bugs before software or product launches.The terminology originated historically from Microsoft’s specialized security community events and conferences
Oh, Sneakers! My voice is my passport; please verify me.
IYKYK ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Some generic Linux laptop from approx 2014 could do just as well in many cases… and be x86 which is helpful for when you want to run software which is distributed as precompiled binaries (windows programs under Wine for example). What I’d really like to see is an x86 cyberdeck, it can chase the William Gibson novel aesthetic as much as it likes, bundle extra tools (RF stuff, low level electronic GPIO and common protocol support), much larger battery for longer life than a typical laptop gives… but the whole point is x86 means it can do fancy cyberdeck stuff, and also do everything a regular Linux laptop can.
DIG it!!
I didn’t even watch M.A.S.K., but I had and loved that lunchbox from first grade until… Idk, whenever my parents decided that packing lunch was a burden (second or third grade). Washing it peeled the sticker off, so if it still exists after all this time (not inconceivable) it’s just a dark red lunchbox.
Anyway, this is a thing of beauty.
Yes a good choice of lunchbox.
Hey hackaday. We are a community of makers, creators, engineers and artists. Please stop showcasing people who use GenAI to make video thumbnails. It’s lazy slop and it’s killing the passion.
With all due respect, what people do for YouTube views is irrelevant.
The build process is what counts, and I thank Hackaday for bringing it to my attention.
Complaining about an AI thumbnail, is like complaining about an old (Photoshopped) movie poster.
You can’t use Gen AI and then call yourself an artist. Complaining /railing against AI slop is valid.
“an old (Photoshopped) movie poster” required much more effort than asking AI to make thumbnail. I think that it is the lack of effort and over-the-top imagery that bothers people… all that work put into that project or video and than slapping a 5 second soulless thumbnail on it just makes it feel cheap. A good thumbnail shows in one image what the user might expect, in this case the card just shouts: danger of AI-slop ahead might contain images of a laptop and a lunchbox. Which is not what the project or the video deserves
It’s not AI generated. Look at the keyboard – AI can’t reproduce an entire keyboard without screwing something up. Every symbol and letter is perfect.
I’m skeptical of any plastic box that depends on a live hinge instead of, say, something articulated. i would be thinking every time i opened it that today would be the day the hinge would tear through.