Pi3DSXL
Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2019 4:38 pm
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
Spacer (either epoxied or awaiting epoxy)
ABXY Sel / Strt were able to be tapped
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.
Beginning to lay out things
It closes! Now for the screen and other bits.
Screen added (note 3D printed bracket holding it all in nicely)
Initial 2500mAh random lipo, fit like total crap, lasted 30 mins. Replaced with an Uxcell 3000mAh
Approximating speaker location, used the broken upper shell bits to drill the speaker grille
Used screw posts from GBZ graveyard to attach back of the shell halves
Rear shell fitment, very nice!
Screwed down
Printed and glued on some additional 1-2mm spacer bits
First boot with it all together and playable
Console font very readable (sized up) on the composite 4.3"
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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