Michael Castor’s Raspberry Pi Tablet @Raspberry_Pi #piday #raspberrypi
Here’s a super pro pi tablet from Michael Castor via makezine.com:
It seems that every day a manufacturer comes out with a new tablet computer. Thinner, lighter, faster, but it seems that they all look about the same and accomplish roughly the same things. When I set out to build my Raspberry Pi tablet I wanted something different. I wanted an all-in-one system that was usable, portable, and Linux based. Additionally, it had to look good. Since I wanted to use it on flights the device couldn’t freak out the TSA or the old lady sitting next to me.
Early in 2013 I started accumulating parts. The Raspberry Pi runs off of 5V so I knew it could be powered from a cell phone charger. Most touchscreens I could find were 12V though, making the electrical work more complex. After a bit of searching I finally found what I was looking for: a touchscreen monitor with a 5V HDMI to LVDS converter from a site called Chalk-Elec.com. I plugged the screen in as soon as I received it and to my delight it worked perfectly with the Pi, even the capacitive touchscreen. Now I knew my dream of a Raspberry Pi tablet was possible.
Waterproof Metal On/Off Switch with White LED Ring – 16mm White On/Off – These chrome-plated metal buttons are rugged and waterproof and look real good while doing it! Simply drill a 16mm hole into any material up to 1/2″ thick and you can fit these in place, there’s even a rubber gasket to keep any water out of the enclosure. (read more)
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
