pi zero usb hub

2 Articles

Cramming A Pi Zero Into A USB Hub

February 1, 2016 by 41 Comments

We kinda feel bad posting all these awesome hacks you can do with a Raspberry Pi Zero when we know most of our audience here probably doesn’t have one due to the backlog of orders… but regardless — here’s another one you can try — if you have one anyway. A Raspberry Pi USB Hub!

In case you didn’t know, Amazon has a series of electronics accessories called Amazon Basics — and they’re actually pretty good quality accessories. One of them is a 7-port, 4A USB hub. Looking at this [gittenlucky] figured he might just have enough room to fit a Pi Zero inside… and as it turns out. He did.

Continue reading “Cramming A Pi Zero Into A USB Hub” →

Yet Another Pi Zero USB Hub

December 19, 2015 by 36 Comments

It’s quite fascinating to see the world of hackers rise up and start messing around with new hardware as soon as it’s released. As everyone knows, the Raspberry Pi Zero only has two micro USB ports… a bit lacking for any computer — even one the size of a credit card. While there will probably be an official USB hub coming out someday, we’ve already seen a few home-made versions — though we think this might be the nicest layout so far!

[Richard Hawthorn] threw this PCB design together to give the Pi Zero four USB 2.0 ports. It can be attached by either a USB connector, or by soldering 4 pins between the two boards. It can either be powered off of the Pi Zero, or with an external power connector jack. In a future design he hopes to add pogo pins so it can just be attached and detached whenever you need it.

It’s a bit more involved than simply strapping a mini USB hub to the back of your Pi, but if you’re interested in a more sleek solution, [Richard’s] got all the details on his GitHub.