[WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic with dimmable display

Show off your completed Game Boy Zero, or post your build logs here!
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fdeluxe
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[WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic with dimmable display

Post by fdeluxe » Thu Dec 14, 2017 3:03 pm

Here's my second take on the GBZ. This time I tried to go for a very vanilla Gameboy look, by maintaining the original screen lens, DC-in as well as the battery LED

Here are the features:

- Raspberry Pi Zero
- Watterott 2.8" SPI Display with adjustable brightness via contrast wheel
- Original bleached Gameboy Case (eBay)
- Battery LED
- PAM8403
- Stereo speaker (2x Gameboy Pocket speaker)
- Mbuynow S2 4800mAh LiPo (https://www.amazon.de/Mbuynow%C2%AE-480 ... B00HUOASRE)
- Original DC-In
- Gray X/Y Buttons (Handheldlegend)
- 12 mm L/R Tactile Buttons (https://www.amazon.de/dp/B06XF2MHCM/ref ... c7QDHYtBP3)
- Arduino Micro for buttons and contrast-wheel

ToDo:
- replace plastic lens with a glass one
- Maybe add a safe shutdown

Screendemo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNVLCSovz1c

Dimming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_3rFNR2WuY

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Last edited by fdeluxe on Sun Dec 17, 2017 1:44 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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rodocop
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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by rodocop » Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:03 pm

Very nice. I'm interested how you set up the dimming. I've got an upcoming build where I plan to use a similar screen.

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by chaosratt » Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:45 pm

Looks great, just one comment: There's no such thing as a 14500 above 900ma. Physically impossible, and anyone selling them is lying.

I'd love to see more details on how you did the screen dimming.

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by DieselDummy » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:09 pm

chaosratt wrote:
Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:45 pm
Looks great, just one comment: There's no such thing as a 14500 above 900ma. Physically impossible, and anyone selling them is lying.

I'd love to see more details on how you did the screen dimming.
Just for my own curiosity (and ignorance), what makes it physically impossible?

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by chaosratt » Thu Dec 14, 2017 10:15 pm

Energy density. I'm sure *someone* out there can make 14500 cells over 900ma, but are not going to find them on ebay at bargain prices.

Just take a glance at reputable name companies and you will see not a single one selling models over 900. Like these Sanyo's: https://www.orbtronic.com/batteries-cha ... -Orbtronic

While I hate linking to another forum as "proof", the flashlight nerds tend to take this topic very seriously (as do the vapers), and they also conclude the same thing; anything over 900 is fake, and even if it isnt rated over 900 it could still be fake: http://budgetlightforum.com/node/20913

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by fdeluxe » Thu Dec 14, 2017 11:13 pm

rodocop wrote:
Thu Dec 14, 2017 8:03 pm
Very nice. I'm interested how you set up the dimming. I've got an upcoming build where I plan to use a similar screen.
The Watterott display supports hardware pwm dimming by default via pin 18. All I did was hook up a potentiometer to the arduino, assigned 10 different hotkeys (ctrl+1,ctrl+2...) to rising potentiometer values. Then I installed wiringpi to control the gpio and triggerhappy to set the pwm rate via the potentiometer hotkeys.

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by YaYa » Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:21 pm

14500 can’t get more than 900mAh right... but people often forget NimH batteries.
For my RC car radio, i’m using Energizer AA rechargeable batteries rated 2300mAh (real and tested) so by modifying the connection plates in the battery tray, anyone should get a decent 4600mAh at 2.4V (2x1.2V per cell)
You will need a booster to make 3.3V
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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by YaYa » Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:22 pm

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by chaosratt » Fri Dec 15, 2017 12:46 pm

Right, you can't get more than 900mA out of a rechargeable LiON at 3.7v. Other types will vary, but even with NimH, the higher mAH rating comes at a cost of much lower voltage. I'd need to do some math to see how the WH compares.

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Re: [WIP] Gameboy Zero Classic

Post by neolith » Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:32 am

The dimming feature is very impressive, I haven't seen that anywhere else. Nice build!
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