Lego Raspberry PiBook

Introduction

I have built several Lego cases for computer hardware over the years, but with the Raspberry Pi it's been possible to experiment more. The Pi's small size and low temperature mean there is a lot of scope to rapidly try many case designs.

Photos


3/4 View

Front

Outside Front
 

Outside Back

Audio and Composite

SD Card Slot
 

USB ports

The Screen Controller

Keyboard Removed
 

Outer Case Removed

The Core

Building

Construction is based on two 16 x 24 stud Lego baseplates (12.8cm x 19.2cm). Most of the walls of the case are 1 stud wide.

For the non-Lego components, most of the effort is expended on wiring up the items and trying to fit all the connections in. It should be possible to free up more space by using/crimping shorter internal USB and Ethernet cables.

Diagram of the wiring of the PiBook

diagram of the wiring of the PiBook

The Instructions

These instructions were created with Leocad, although there is a Linux version it is not in the default Raspbian repositories, I'll look into compiling up a version for the Pi.

These instructions are from a slightly earlier version of the case, before I added the USB hub.

The hinge between the two halves, is made of technic lift-arms, pinned into technic beams in the case walls.

The Screen

Finding a suitable screen proved difficult, my first choice was a 3.5" LCD commonly used in car reversing systems.

The 3.5" LCD

I shopped around for a replacement screen that had a higher spec, and found a very useful one on Ebay. The screen is a INNOLUX AT070TN92 and the controller board is a PCB-800099.

Innolux 7" LCD

This screen requires you to tweak the config.txt on the boot partition of your Pi OS. This is because although it is HDMI the controller board reports that it supports modes that it cannot actually display.

hdmi_cvt 800 480 60 6 0 0 0
hdmi_group=2
hdmi_mode=87
hdmi_ignore_edid=0xa5000080

Cost Breakdown

  Cost
(inc delivery)
Description Source
Raspberry Pi34.00Model BFrom Stock CPC Farnell
HDMI to HDMI lead1.2130cmEbay (sinedy)
Screen40.50INNOLUX AT070TN92Ebay (njytouch)
Keyboard/Mouse18.00USB over radioEbay (cablemaster)
USB Hub5.004 port, 2 on each sideFrom Stock
PSU5.005V 2AFrom Stock
Battery Pack12.0020000mAhEbay (kryonet_ltd)
Power Socket5.004.0mm/1.7mm socketEbay (jegs11)
Ethernet extension2.5950cm plug to socketEbay (cables-and-more)
USB leads2.002 x charger leadsPoundland
Lego35.00Estimate of costFrom Stock
Power Plug1.894.0mm/1.7mm plugMaplin
 
Total £ 162.19 Total ex stock £ 83.19

Future Improvements?

A simple improvement could be to add a USB WIFI dongle, there is currently a free internal usb socket which could be used.

A more difficult improvement would be the provision of an internal battery. There really isn't any free space in the base section, but in the screen there is theoretically space for a flat battery.

Applications

The PiBook should be able to run any Pi supported OS and application, with the slight limitation of a smaller than usual screen resolution. I've successfully run Raspbian, RaspMC and RISC OS.

I use the PiBook for ARM assembler programming (using GCC inline assembler), watching videos and have setup a Nintendo Game Boy Advance emulator (using an external USB gamepad).

Public Appearances

The machine has visited a few shows, and is also a regular at the London Raspberry Pint.