Advice for a School Project

[csivel]

Hello all! My name is Brian, and I am an engineering student at my high school and this year is my senior year. I’ve been taking this engineering class for 3 years now, and part of the curriculum is to make a final “capstone” project encompassing all I have learned over the years. The project can be whatever I want it to be, as long as it relates to electronics, shows a sufficient amount of rigger, and is a tangible product.
This got me thinking, “hey I really like watching those portable Wii videos on YouTube (such as Shank) and maybe I could have a go at it.” My question is, as a beginner, should I undergo this project at all? I have 4 months to complete the project, and I don’t really have a defined budget but I definitely have my limits, so how much time and money would I realistically have to spend on making a portable Wii?

 

[Gman]

Hello all! My name is Brian, and I am an engineering student at my high school and this year is my senior year. I’ve been taking this engineering class for 3 years now, and part of the curriculum is to make a final “capstone” project encompassing all I have learned over the years. The project can be whatever I want it to be, as long as it relates to electronics, shows a sufficient amount of rigger, and is a tangible product.
This got me thinking, “hey I really like watching those portable Wii videos on YouTube (such as Shank) and maybe I could have a go at it.” My question is, as a beginner, should I undergo this project at all? I have 4 months to complete the project, and I don’t really have a defined budget but I definitely have my limits, so how much time and money would I realistically have to spend on making a portable Wii?

It's up to you but you'll probably have to spend an enormous amount of time working on it outside of school in order to finish. Also note that building a portable is expensive which your school may or may not cover.

 

[csivel]

It's up to you but you'll probably have to spend an enormous amount of time working on it outside of school in order to finish. Also note that building a portable is expensive which your school may or may not cover.

I can downgrade from Wii portable to GameCube portable if that’s easier and more cost efficient. How bare bones can I make it so the idea of making a portable in 4 months with minimal money spent is feasible? The thing is I feel super motivated to make one of these if I can get it done in 4 months, but I feel like I don’t know where I’ll start

 

[Gman]

I can downgrade from Wii portable to GameCube portable if that’s easier and more cost efficient. How bare bones can I make it so the idea of making a portable in 4 months with minimal money spent is feasible? The thing is I feel super motivated to make one of these if I can get it done in 4 months, but I feel like I don’t know where I’ll start

No no no, gamecube portables are much more difficult and obsolete now.

 

[csivel]

No no no, gamecube portables are much more difficult and obsolete now.

Ah, I see. So I assume it would be much easier to take an existing Wii with GameCube functionality, cut out the motherboard and start the modding process from there? Or is it easier to use Raspberry Pi? I’m sorry if I come across as ignorant I just want to get as much information as I can as a good starting point.

 

[jefflongo]

Ah, I see. So I assume it would be much easier to take an existing Wii with GameCube functionality, cut out the motherboard and start the modding process from there? Or is it easier to use Raspberry Pi? I’m sorry if I come across as ignorant I just want to get as much information as I can as a good starting point.

Yes you are correct. Although as a beginner 4 months is not a lot of time to create a Wii portable. A Raspberry Pi would be much easier and feasible in 4 months, however, a Raspberry Pi has no chance at running GameCube and Wii games. Additionally, I'm not sure what the requirements are at your school but at my school, a Raspberry Pi portable would not be of sufficient difficulty for a capstone project.

 

[csivel]

Yes you are correct. Although as a beginner 4 months is not a lot of time to create a Wii portable. A Raspberry Pi would be much easier and feasible in 4 months, however, a Raspberry Pi has no chance at running GameCube and Wii games. Additionally, I'm not sure what the requirements are at your school but at my school, a Raspberry Pi portable would not be of sufficient difficulty for a capstone project.

Raspberry Pi isn’t something we delved into at all in my school. The most programing/coding we did at my school is Arduino and Fanuc robots. So teaching myself how to program a raspberry pi would definitely qualify as enough rigor for the project.

 

[Gman]

Raspberry Pi isn’t something we delved into at all in my school. The most programing/coding we did at my school is Arduino and Fanuc robots. So teaching myself how to program a raspberry pi would definitely qualify as enough rigor for the project.

Making a rpi portable doesn't involve any programming. It's just copying files over to sd card. In my opinion, making a portable is not a good engineering project unless you are designing something yourself like designing the case for example.

 

[csivel]

Making a rpi portable doesn't involve any programming. It's just copying files over to sd card. In my opinion, making a portable is not a good engineering project unless you are designing something yourself like designing the case for example.

Oh is that really all there is for an rpi? Again excuse my ignorance, but you make it sound very easy. Perhaps I have to think of something with a bit more rigor then.

 

[Gman]

Oh is that really all there is for an rpi? Again excuse my ignorance, but you make it sound very easy. Perhaps I have to think of something with a bit more rigor then.

It's not easy, but it's also not really engineering either.