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Dual Raspberry Pi Picos power this portable mini PC
When it comes to hacking on the go, makers are quick to use our favorite SBC—the Raspberry Pi — to make their ideal rig. Maker and developer Abe from the Abe's Projects channel over at YouTube is no stranger to Pi projects and decided to kick things up a notch with this cool, portable mini PC made from two Raspberry Pi Picos.
According to Abe, the idea was to make a useful mini PC that could be used for a variety of use cases — especially hacking. The end result is this awesome handheld unit that has a touchscreen interface, built in keyboard and an operating system that's capable of running custom apps and programs made using Python.
The main driver of this project is Pimoroni's PicoVision module — a handy board we had the opportunity to review back in 2023. In general, we loved our experience with the PicoVision, rating it at 4 out of 5 stars. This board features two Raspberry Pi Picos, one of which is used primarily as a GPU while the over serves as a processor. It has support for all sorts of expansions including Stemma QT and the ability to get HDMI output which is ideal for projects like this.
For input, the mini PC is reliant on a 5-inch touchscreen panel that has a resolution of 800 x 480px. This is necessary as there is no cursor. It's aided by a small keyboard module taken out of a wireless TV remote. To power the unit, it relies on a LiPo battery. All of the hardware is housed inside of a custom 3D printed shell that Abe designed just for this project.
Software-wise, the mini PC is relying on Slime OS—an open source operating system that has plenty of room for customization which Abe definitely took advantage of. He's created a few Python-based apps and fixed them up with custom icons that can be seen on the main desktop. In the demo video, we don't only get a look at the software-building process but also an in-depth breakdown of what the hardware assembly was like along the way.
To get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project, check out the full video shared to YouTube by Abe's Projects and be sure to follow him for more cool creations as well as any future updates to this one.
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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.
