Portable Retro Gaming Unit

[dhenric1]

So I got a Raspberry Pi for xmas and seeing as I moved to London and sold all my gaming consoles, decide to start a project with the Pi.

I came across Mat Jessop’s post (https://www.petrockblock.com/forums/topic/portable-handheld-raspberry-pi/) on PetroBlock and decided it would be a good project to work on.

Have to say, definitely a challenging project for me seeing as I had never tinkered around with electronics this way before no even used a soldering iron!…yes lots of battle scars happened! lol

Anyways, so attached some pics of the finished product. End to End took me just over 2 months, but that included waiting for parts and chipping away at it after work and some weekends and also time wasted when stuff didn’t go to plan!

I did hit a road block a few times, once was due to an issue with the monitor from Adafruit which refused to power consistently off the Powerboost, that was an expensive waste as a cheaper monitor from Amazon did the job just fine!

Big shout out to Mat Jessop though for responding to my numerous questions, especially some very basic questions about how to connect switch to the PowerBoost :) definitely helped me heaps along the way.

Main info about the unit:
– running Model A+ (originally I had a Model B+ but when I de-soldered the USB ports and ethernet, USB failed to work direct via wires, so didn’t want to buy another B+ and face the same potential issue)
– with the 4 pole cable out of the PI, I added a stereo port so that I can hook up headphones to get that great retro sound from the games
– I ended up buying 2 retrolink USB game pads just so I could get 6 buttons going…might be a better way to do it but wanted the same style buttons for the L & R
– setup custom hot keys to be able to exit to the main menu via Select + Start
– setup custom hot keys for save and load states via Selecr + L or Select + R
– using the same closing mechanism as Mat’s Project, I can reopen it easily and then use my wifi dongle to be able to SSH and then edit config, add games, etc.
– I attempted to spray paint it but seeing as this was my first attempt, not the best but gives it that retro look around the edges
– 3d printed case (3D Print UK) was the most expensive item on the list, came in at just over £90

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

[dhenric1]

some more photos….

[Floob]

That looks really impressive. Good job!
The time spent was well worth the effort.

[fireslayer26]

Good job! Could you post your stl files? Also, how did you connect the extra 2 buttons?

Thanks,
Richard

[dhenric1]

thanks @Floob, yes the time spent was definitely worth it. Massive learning curve so hopefully if I do another one it won’t take as long! :p

thanks @fireslayer26 The Google Sketchup file I worked off was originally from Mat Jessop and I modified it to extend the height of the case and added the provision for the audio jack and the additional 2 buttons. I’m just checking with Mat first if it’s ok to share as it’s based of his original Sketchup file.
I re-wired the L & R from the PCB so the wires connecting them were longer, enough so that it could reach the back of the case. I ended up buying a second RetroLink controller and used the rubber and buttons from that…probs not the most cost efficient but I didn’t like the original L & R buttons.
As far as getting the back buttons to work, because they’re the original L & R from the PCB, it works automatically after registering it as a RetroArch Controller.

[dhenric1]

Hey @fireSlayer26 STL file is too large to attach also can’t attach the Sketchup file.
I’ve uploaded the Google Sketchup & STL file to: https://www.wetransfer.com/downloads/ff359b1bd54d90ca006469c8f4e30b1820150308203930/ebd37b42e7292abec666310ba935f73920150308203930/ffd0d4

Couple of changes you could make…
– move the back buttons down a bit, when I started playing I noticed they would have been better dropped down a bit
– also you can shave some width off the back part of the case as there’s some extra space on one side of the audio jack provision which could be reduced, you can also reduce that amount of space from the front of the case

cheers,
Don

[fireslayer26]

Thank you very much! I will try to change your suggestions but I have next to no experience working with 3D models like that.

[dhenric1]

@fireslayer26 no probs. It’s pretty easy to pick up Google Sketchup. One thing you will need to do is sand down the button holes a bit as they’re a bit too tight, doesn’t take too much work to do though.

[dhenric1]

.

[dhenric1]

Hey @sigma-nl

sorry about the expired links, have re-uploaded the files:

STL File:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=00565018661085818827

Sketchup File:
http://s000.tinyupload.com/?file_id=99591538298994334000

Good luck with your project! :)

cheers,
Don

[zandercz01]

Hi,

I want to do your design but how hard would it be to put a back like this
[img]http://ts3.mm.bing.net/th?id=HN.608042356017598264&pid=1.7[/img]
Except replace the amazon logo with the raspberry pi from the original design and put in the two should buttons.

Also how hard would it be to put USB ports into the side?

[sigma-nl]

Very nice thank you soooo much.

I’ll try to make something nice (have found a 7″ display so I need to edit the files) :)

Thank you again.

grtz
Sigma-nl

[fireslayer26]

Interested to see your 7″ design. Do you think you could upload some modified files with the back buttons lowered and some small slots/holes for an internal speaker?

Thanks,
Richard

[dhenric1]

Hey @zandercz01

sorry for the late reply.

RE: I want to do your design but how hard would it be to put a back like this. Except replace the amazon logo with the raspberry pi from the original design and put in the two should buttons.

Not sure if you can extrude from the edges as the source file has rounded corners…you can give it a go and see if it shows up as a weird render. Have a look at youtube, before I made the mods I’d never used Sketchup, but after watching a video and doing some test changes, didn’t take long to pick it up.

Think it was this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb-Adao_Q1c

RE: Also how hard would it be to put USB ports into the side?

I managed to add in an audio jack so if you measure up the size of the USB port itself you can double check that it can fit…then just cut out the shape from the existing model, again the youtube video covers that kind of stuff.
However that being said, you may run into power issues if you try and pull too much juice from the Powerboost and have shorter usage from the battery, or also run into issues of not being able to power up the USB device you try and connect….I ran into an issue with a Bluetooth Dongle not powering, so fell back to an audio port instead.

cheers,
Don

[dhenric1]

Hey @sigma-nl

sorry for the late reply.

That’s awesome mate!

Just check the ergonomics though, before I made the changes to Mat’s original files I actually made a cardboard cutout just to see how it would feel in my hands with the extra thickness :p

7″ display may introduce some other issues around how the controller is positioned or it you scrap that and use a different model/layout.

Would love to see the finished photos though, good luck with it.

cheers,
Don

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