In this article, DIY Raspberry Pi Laptop project will be told. I needed a low cost mini computer with high mobility but then I decided to make my own.
Everyone, today want to work on the go and what better than a laptop can cater such needs.
Raspberry Pi 2 is a great platform for developing software but it is hard to find screen and keyboard everywhere. It decreases the portability of Raspberry Pi. In addition, it has a lot of input-output ports like 4 USB ports, 1 HDMI port. Third reason is low power consumption of Raspberry. The total power consumption of my system is 7.8 watt. It drains 650 mAh from a 3s Li-Po battery.
Raspberry Pi also offers multi tasking which Arduino lacks and hence, we chose Raspberry Pi over Arduino. do note that Arduino is better for performing single tasks but we need a laptop with multitasking abilities.
Gathering the Essentials
1. Raspberry Pi 2
2. 4 Gb SD Card
3. LCD Screen
4. HDMI Cable
5. Tablet Case with Keyboard
6. USB WIFI Adapter
7. LM2596 Regulator
8. 1500 mAh 3S Li-Po Battery
9. Mouse
10. 1 Meter Cable Cover
Circuit Connections
Before starting to the assembly. I build the circuit and test it.After different versions have been tried, finally the working prototype was reached. This is the schematic of the circuit.
Basically, LCD screen works with 12 volt and the Raspberry Pi 2 works with 5 volt. Therefore the circuit needs a regulator. There is a switch to cut the power from the battery. When battery is charging, the battery must be switch off and the circuit can be used with DC in jack on the LCD Driver Board. It is a good solution for off battery times.
Assembly
1. Raspberry Pi 2
2. 4 Gb SD Card
3. LCD Screen
4. HDMI Cable
5. Tablet Case with Keyboard
6. USB WIFI Adapter
7. LM2596 Regulator
8. 1500 mAh 3S Li-Po Battery
9. Mouse
10. 1 Meter Cable Cover
Circuit Connections
Before starting to the assembly. I build the circuit and test it.After different versions have been tried, finally the working prototype was reached. This is the schematic of the circuit.
Basically, LCD screen works with 12 volt and the Raspberry Pi 2 works with 5 volt. Therefore the circuit needs a regulator. There is a switch to cut the power from the battery. When battery is charging, the battery must be switch off and the circuit can be used with DC in jack on the LCD Driver Board. It is a good solution for off battery times.
Assembly
Raspberry Pi 2, LCD Driver Board and Li-Po battery is mounted. A piece of cable cover is placed bottom side of the box. In this way, cable of the keyboard is left in the cable cover.
After the montage is completed, Some duck tape is added and the circuit was tried again.
After I am assured the circuit works cleanly, it is continued with box. Cable cover is cut according to HDMI cable and the sockets.
Heat sinks are placed on the SOC of the Raspberry Pi 2 and LCD driver board. I want to be sure about that will not have a overheat problem.
These two pieces are used for extending the audio output. In this way, audio outputs can be reach from outside of the box easily.
The cap of a box is cut according to screen cables and sockets. So we completed the most parts of the box of our laptop.
For good looking some duck tape is used. Low cost DIY Raspberry Pi Laptop is ready for usage. HDMI cable is reachable from outside of the box. Thus Raspberry Pi can be used with external screens or the screen can be used with other devices.
The average current drain by the laptop is 700 mA and Lipo battery has 1500 mAh capacity. The laptop can be use for 2 hour with this battery.
Finally, we built a functional and simple laptop and it's cost 110 dollars.The laptop is great for developing software over Raspberry Pi. By using Raspberry Pi, you jump into the open source world of the Linux and the big community of Raspberry Pi 2.
After the montage is completed, Some duck tape is added and the circuit was tried again.
After I am assured the circuit works cleanly, it is continued with box. Cable cover is cut according to HDMI cable and the sockets.
Heat sinks are placed on the SOC of the Raspberry Pi 2 and LCD driver board. I want to be sure about that will not have a overheat problem.
These two pieces are used for extending the audio output. In this way, audio outputs can be reach from outside of the box easily.
The cap of a box is cut according to screen cables and sockets. So we completed the most parts of the box of our laptop.
For good looking some duck tape is used. Low cost DIY Raspberry Pi Laptop is ready for usage. HDMI cable is reachable from outside of the box. Thus Raspberry Pi can be used with external screens or the screen can be used with other devices.
The average current drain by the laptop is 700 mA and Lipo battery has 1500 mAh capacity. The laptop can be use for 2 hour with this battery.
Finally, we built a functional and simple laptop and it's cost 110 dollars.The laptop is great for developing software over Raspberry Pi. By using Raspberry Pi, you jump into the open source world of the Linux and the big community of Raspberry Pi 2.
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