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This 3D-printed Raspberry Pi all-in-one is made for portable gaming
We are absolute suckers for unique Raspberry Pi rigs and loved this one way too much not to share it. Maker and developer Arnov Sharma is at it again, this time with a gorgeous case put together for the Raspberry Pi 4. This is an all-in-one system that Sharma has dubbed the 'Pi Box' and it looks just as cool as it is functional.
The Pi Box is, as the name suggests, a big box with a Raspberry Pi inside. It's fitted with a screen on the side and a handle which makes it easy to carry around. To keep things portable, it has internal batteries so you can easily game, watch videos or anything else without being restricted to a power output.
According to Sharma, the design can be broken into two distinct sections. One half is used to house the Raspberry Pi and display module while the other half houses the battery pack. The outer shell was designed from scratch by Sharma and was 3D printed using two colors for a professional finish. As the best multi-color 3D printers are now coming down in price, it is now easier to create multi-color prints. To control the Pi inside, you can use Bluetooth for wireless peripherals or connect them to a USB port.
The main model of Pi used in this rig is a Raspberry Pi 4 which is supported by a couple of custom PCBs. One is used as a battery circuit for the power system and the other is a power module circuit which allows the Pi and DFRobot 5-inch IPS screen to connect to the battery pack. The housing was designed using Autodesk and 3D printed. We're not sure exactly what printer he's using but you can check out our list of best 3D printers to see what's currently leading the market.
The power circuit uses an IP6505, which at 5V an output 3.5A. This is below the required power spec for a Raspberry Pi 5, that needs 5V at 5A. But, you could make this work with the latest flagship Raspberry Pi, if you were careful.
For this project, Sharma is running Recalbox OS which is used for emulating games but there's no reason you couldn't set it up with any other OS Of your choice. If you want to do some basic computing, you can't go wrong with Raspberry Pi OS. There are also other gaming-related operating systems like RetroPie that would work just as well.
If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project and its assembly process, check out the project thread shared to Hackster by Arnov Sharma.
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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.
