Worklog Windows Handheld

[nachoz12341]

I've been planning out a windows handheld based off a windows pc stick for a while. I actually started the planning for this portable before the gpd-win was available so that was a bit of a kick to the teeth when it came out but I'm still having fun with this. I started this worklog to get some help with a few issues I'll inevitably have.

Specs:
Intel atom x5-Z8350 (Asus Vivostick)
2 gb Ram
32gb Internal Memory with a 128gb Flashdrive built in
800x480 Hdmi resistive touch display
10,000 mah battery
Custom 3d Printed case
Afterglow xbox 360 controller (with red leds)


Case:
I've been through a few revisions already of the case, luckily I have access to a community 3d printer at an affordable price ($.05 a gram). I'm definitely not an expert with 3d printing or modeling but I've gotten by designing the case with tinkercad.com and the help of others with more experience. Hopefully I've finished what is the last print and can get started soon with building.

Power:
This is where we get to the first issue I'm having and hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. For some reason the asus vivostick, instead of running off 5v like most, runs off a 9v 2a wall adapter. The battery I currently have is a 10,000 mah smartphone back up battery that has two outputs 5v 2.1a and 5v 1a.

My original plan was to power the stick with the 2.1a output, this clearly won't work anymore. My back up plan was to use both outputs and a step up regulator in hopes it would power the pc stick. Testing the step up regulator with a 3.5a power brick worked flawlessly as I stress tested the pc. However, when attempting to wire the regulator to the battery the voltage seems to crash? My multimeter was giving me a reading of ~3v coming from the output of the battery bank. When I disconnect the regulator the voltage rises again to around 5v. Even stranger, I wired the usb port back on to the battery bank to test with my phone and it works flawlessly charging my phone. If someone has a better method of reaching the necessary 9v 2a with a single 3.7v 10,000mah cell I'd be grateful or if you have any idea why I'm having these issues I'd appreciate the help.


There's plenty more progress to be made but I'd like to solve this issue first.

Edit:
Link to the battery:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B5RZOB6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Link to the regulator:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011EBSKK0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[nachoz12341]

Quick update, I shifted gears as I got the final case printed. Ended up taking me an extra revision to get it right, but I'm happy with the result.





Controller
I'm currently looking into how to connect the ps vita joysticks to my xbox controller. Found a great guide here however that guide uses the ps vita 1000 sticks and I have the 2000 versions and the only controller boards I could find were on aliexpress. I'll probably end up biting the bullet and ordering a set but I'm looking into all my options. I'll also have to look into making the analog triggers into a digital switch, if there's no simple way ill probably use the arduino pro mini for this as well as the vita joysticks.

Screen
I've started trying to calibrate the ar1100. This will allow me to use the resistive touch layer of the screen in windows as a mouse. I'm having a few issues getting windows to recognize the board but I've found some forum posts with the same issues so I'll try out a couple different solutions.

On a side note, I still have not figured out my power situation. Ideally if I could find a board that allows me to output 3.5A from the battery. I've also looked into using 2 different batteries to get 7.4v in series but sizing is an issue with this option.

 

[nachoz12341]

Got some more parts in the mail today. I went ahead and bought the last of the parts I should need (hopefully). I've decided to change my plan a bit. I'm using solderable male connectors that will plug into the asus vivostick so that in the future if I want to change the pc im using, it should be as simple as plug and play. This will also simplify soldering the hdmi connection.


Controller
A bit mad at myself as I'm now ordering my fourth ps vita joystick. I broke the second one trying to see if I could solder to the ribbon cable (you cannot). The third one, the one that arrived today, broke when I was cutting off the screw holes with my dremel. I accidentally broke part of the ribbon cable. If I do another of these projects I don't know if I would bother using the ps vita joysticks as they're a pain to deal with. Maybe the 3ds sliders will work better or maybe the joysticks from the switch will be available soon as those seem very small. I wired up the start and select buttons just to position the controller board. I also plugged in the controller to see how the lights look and I think they look great. I did some simple wiring test with the triggers it looks like I'll have to run those through the arduino.



Screen
I wired up the ar1100 and got it working well. I'll have to calibrate it with the proper display when its all closed up but I'm happy with the performance.




Audio
The speakers came in today and I've mounted them to the front of the case. I think I've figured out my layout for the case. Once my final parts come in i'll wire up the headphone jack and speakers to the amp.


Arduino
I've been thinking about implementing a mouse mode using the joysticks and the arduino. Since I have to connect the ps vita joysticks to the arduino anyways I might as well make an alternate mode. Maybe by double tapping the xbox button it'll switch the joysticks to work as a mouse and scroll wheel. Since the back triggers will connected as well they'll be left and right click. It seems the board I'm using does have support for an hid mouse mode but when I get the joysticks wired up ill run some tests on a mode like this.

Finally, thanks for the likes! Good to know someone is watching this thread.

 

[Dominatory]

no more updates and pics?

 

[GingerOfOz]

Yes, that's kind of what happens when a person abandons a project, or moves on from BitBuilt.

Please stop bumping threads. If a person hasn't posted on their own worklog in more than a month, please don't reply to it unless you have something relevant to add. Clutter isn't something we need building up. Thanks.

 

[nachoz12341]

I ended up just buying a gpd win and putting this project on the shelf.

 

[Dominatory]

I ended up just buying a gpd win and putting this project on the shelf.

oh I see that sucks I guess.