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Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:18 pm
by RetroRocket
I call it... The RETRO BRO!

While my two GBZ builds are nearing completion, I began to play around with the next project: Making a portable from scratch based around the potent Orange Pi PC! Because of the size I need to CAD up a new housing, and to support dual analog sticks for N64/PSX etc. I thus decided to go whole hog and put my design skills and training to work. I've gone through several iterations of ergonomic revisions and am very pleased with...the front.

So I went ahead and organized the components with mounting bosses, clips and supports
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Final Sketch
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WIP Assembly
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WIP Exploded View (With Orange Pi PC modeled)
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The back of the shell needs more work, but I have enough to get started!
I based my design around a bigger screen to make for the most appealing interface and efficient use of space and settled on this 5", 800x480 resolution screen. Without being able to find the true dimensions I guessed and when it arrived I found I was only .5mm off!
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I was also pleasantly surprised that the controller board is absolutely tiny.
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So far I have collected the screen, some wonderfully soft silicone tactile switches, two PSP analog sticks (will be replacing the tiny nub caps), speakers from a portable DVD player, stereo amplifier, DIY stereo low-pass filter, and the Pi.
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I still don't know how I'm going to power this thing, but I'll be experimenting with a couple different pass-through chargers...highest I've found is 3A. Should be a fun ride and I look forward to any and all suggestions!
Now I'm just waiting for my 3D printer to arrive so I can check the dimensions, fit and finish before I finalize it.

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:39 pm
by Roller Toaster
This is awesome! I've been planning to make a build with the Orange Pi 0 so I'll definitely be following this project. The custom shell looks amazing too!

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 6:50 pm
by muniosi
Sweet build so far! I'll be following this closely.

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:34 pm
by ICMF
Nice to see a distinctively non-Nintendo take. Yet it still looks like an early 90's handheld. Very cool.

But.

The teal/yellow colour scheme... I hope that's just for the render? :?

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:12 am
by RetroRocket
ICMF wrote:
Mon Jul 10, 2017 7:34 pm
Nice to see a distinctively non-Nintendo take. Yet it still looks like an early 90's handheld. Very cool.

But.

The teal/yellow colour scheme... I hope that's just for the render? :?
Haha, yeah; it's my default while modeling for ease of viewing. I originally wanted to cut this out of a beautiful slab of purpleheart wood and those yellow bezels would be brass...But I got carried away with the details...

This is where I'm at with the back...Still pretty chunky but I like the chamfer for L2/R2
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Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:47 pm
by sakenda
Sweet, i have the same display for a project. But i dont know how to convert it to 5v. If someone knows how, let me know. And im exited for your project

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2017 9:07 am
by RetroRocket
So I didn't like the bulkiness of the first back panel. Experimenting with a few more revisions, but I found a miscalculation in the depth I would need to I was able to chop 20 mm off without issue. I like the chamfer better, but it's still a bit too blocky...but it's a good starting point. I also started building the components (arduino) to figure out placement and mounting bosses/structural ridges and toyed with mounts to secure the Pi PC's USB and ethernet ports. Ideally some of these would be removed/relocated but I'm hesitant to risk desoldering them.
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The good news: My 3D printer arrived yesterday! I'm so stoked to start building its own upgrades and modifications!

The less good news: I leave for two sequential familial obligation trips tomorrow morning...

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:11 am
by Quantum Skull
Cool!
What 3d printer?

Do you possibly have a link to the screen you used?

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:26 am
by tyler335
Just thinking about the positioning of the left joystick and D-pad. What systems do you plan on playing mostly? Most retrogames only support the D-pad. Even for the PS1, there are just a few games that use the joysticks. I would put what you think would be used more in the top circular area of the left side.

Anyway, this is a cool project. Can wait to see the build.

Re: Custom Orange-Pi Portable

Posted: Thu Jul 27, 2017 7:04 pm
by RetroRocket
Quantum Skull wrote:
Thu Jul 27, 2017 9:11 am
Cool!
What 3d printer?

Do you possibly have a link to the screen you used?
I bought a dirt cheap Anet A8 and have a long list of upgrades and modifications. I got it mainly for the price and the relatively huge print area (220x220x240mm) which is 10mm wider than my shell, so I can do it all at once.

This is the exact screen I purchased. After scouring eBay and Aliexpress, it was the cheapest 5" screen with that resolution. It works great and I love how tiny the controller board is.
Word of warning; this one took over a month to get to me here in the US. Also, the OPi PC doesn't have pads to solder A/V wires to, so I had to use a workaround using the 3.5 mm jack and a Nokia CA 75U video cable and add a bit of boot code to the micro SD.
Alternatively; you could use the HDMI port, but I wanted to leave that accessible in case I want to plug it into a separate monitor.