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Pi3DSXL

Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:38 pm
by goosewerks
Someone contacted me on FB from a Retropie group a little over a year ago asking if I had ever put a Pi into a 3DSXL; well, no. No one had, or tried to my knowledge. A Pi0? Too weak. We went full Pi3.

The shell was NOT big enough to house a Pi3 (slimmed), composite screen (HDMI was out of the question), power source (RetroPSU), lipo (ended up with a 3000mAh) and Arduino tapped into the original controls all at once without any modding. So I came up with the idea for a spacer, which I 3D printed countless iterations of until I had it pretty much perfect, then CNC'd it out of a sheet of ABS I picked up off Amazon. The customer has a friend who paints cars for a living and is going to do all the body filler, cut off the hinge brackets and paint it a really cool color scheme, which made me really happy because I don't trust myself with body filler on this small of a scale. I'm proud that I used a minimal amount of hot glue and 3D printed a LOT of stuff for this and used super glue and epoxy wherever possible. It plays really well and I am glad it's done. Would I build another? Absolutely not.

Parts List:
4.3" composite LCD (backup monitor)
Arduino Pro Micro
RetroPSU
3000mAh lipo (Amazon Uxcell)
GBZ Audio Amp
3DS Speakers
Uxcell headphone jack
16GB SD Card
3D printed screen surround / bracket
CNC ABS spacer
Various 3D printed brackets to even out height


Here's my sporadic photo build log

The ABS Spacer, freshly cut and sitting on my work desk
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Spacer (either epoxied or awaiting epoxy)
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ABXY Sel / Strt were able to be tapped
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The DPAD was not able to be tapped or I broke it attempting to tap it, I can't remember. I tried micro tac switches but the noise was obnoxious so I got the Adafruit soft membrane tac switches instead. Glued to the buttons, it actually feels quite nice and plays well.
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Beginning to lay out things
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It closes! Now for the screen and other bits.
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Screen added (note 3D printed bracket holding it all in nicely)
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Initial 2500mAh random lipo, fit like total crap, lasted 30 mins. Replaced with an Uxcell 3000mAh
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Approximating speaker location, used the broken upper shell bits to drill the speaker grille
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Used screw posts from GBZ graveyard to attach back of the shell halves
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Rear shell fitment, very nice!
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Screwed down
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Printed and glued on some additional 1-2mm spacer bits
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First boot with it all together and playable
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Console font very readable (sized up) on the composite 4.3"
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Re: Pi3DSXL

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 10:00 am
by papajsantos
this is sick! I'm in love, I have a stripped down Pi3B+ board I was trying to find a use for so thanks for the idea!

Re: Pi3DSXL

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2019 12:43 pm
by Orochi Kusanagi
Oh my, this is so cool! I've always loved the design of the 3ds, its great to see someone make this lovely thing.