Raspberry Pi projects are always more fun on the go. If it can fit in your bag, you can take it anywhere! But maker and developer Averadian took this idea in a more literal sense and decided to integrate his Raspberry Pi into a backpack. You don’t have to take the Pi out of the bag as it’s part of the bag with a visible screen everywhere you go.
currently_working_on_a_fully_portable_raspberry from r/raspberry_pi
At the moment, this is still a work in progress but enough work has been completed to appreciate and we felt it was worth sharing. According to Averadian, he is in the process of completing the case for the Pi and accompanying battery pack. Plans are in the works to add an IO panel to the side so all of the ports can be more easily accessed.
There are a couple of ways to operate this Raspberry Pi backpack. The easiest way is to use the screen mounted to the outside of the backpack as it is a touchscreen panel. You can also use a wireless keyboard with the Pi that can easily be stored inside of the backpack.
The Raspberry Pi used in this project is a Raspberry Pi 4. It’s housed inside of a metal case that doubles as a heatsink. The screen fits inside of a front pocket and is protected by a cover on the backside of the panel. Averadian intends to add fans to the setup to help keep the Pi cool since it's housed inside of a cloth enclosure. A portable charger with 30 Amp hours has been included to keep everything mobile.
Averadian explains that the goal of this project is mainly for fun as he doesn’t have a specific use case for it. However, the potential is there for many ideas from gaming on the go to more professional use cases like pentesting (penetration testing, commonly used by security researchers). Because the Pi is Linux-based, there are tons of potential operating systems at hand.
If you want to recreate this Raspberry Pi project, check out the original thread shared to Reddit for a close look at how it goes together. Be sure to follow Averadian for future updates as more features are added.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.