Worklog Raspberry PI Zero 2 based portable Retropie Console

[STB]

Hi !

I'm working on a portable game console running on a Raspberry PI Zero 2.
My rough specs are:

• 800x480 TFT screen with digital brightness control
• Stereo sound (switches automatic to headphone if the 3.5mm connector is inserted)
• Digital volume control
• USB-C charging input
• 3.6V LiIon battery
• 2x USB-A for multiplayer gaming
• "enough" digital buttons
• Accelerometer & Gyroscope to control games by simply moving the console
• 2 analog sticks with trigger
• 2 shoulder buttons on each side

My prototype PCBs are back from the factory and I want to share my project here.
I made 2 prototypes. One with soldered digital buttons, which is mainly for Software testing. The other one is using membrane "rubber" switches from the Nintendo DS.

Here some pictures:

I'm in the phase of testing. A lot of things are working. Other parts are still untested.

 

[djsedaw]

Hi !

I'm working on a portable game console running on a Raspberry PI Zero 2.
My rough specs are:

• 800x480 TFT screen with digital brightness control
• Stereo sound (switches automatic to headphone if the 3.5mm connector is inserted)
• Digital volume control
• USB-C charging input
• 3.6V LiIon battery
• 2x USB-A for multiplayer gaming
• "enough" digital buttons
• Accelerometer & Gyroscope to control games by simply moving the console
• 2 analog sticks with trigger
• 2 shoulder buttons on each side

My prototype PCBs are back from the factory and I want to share my project here.
I made 2 prototypes. One with soldered digital buttons, which is mainly for Software testing. The other one is using membrane "rubber" switches from the Nintendo DS.

Here some pictures:
View attachment 22244View attachment 22245View attachment 22246

I'm in the phase of testing. A lot of things are working. Other parts are still untested.

What size screen is that?

 

[FzOrb]

I made one too a couple months back. Dare I say it might've been the first Pi 0 2 w handheld. Essentially I did an Pi zero handheld but 1 day after finishing I got word that the Pi 0 2 w came out. I ordered one instantly and when I received it on the 3rd I replaced the Pi zero with an Pi zero 2 w. The drivers worked with any arm pc and I was up and running with the latest version of Retropie for the pi 3

 

[STB]

What size screen is that?

It has 5" screen size.
The pictures are showing it with two different 5" TFTs. One with touch and this nice black frame. The other one is without touch.
The sowftware is also supporting this touch but to be honest, with RetroPI there is no need for touch.

 

[StonedEdge]

Looks really nice so far, the gyrometer is a nice touch for streaming and games like BoTW, really awesome. Are you using 24-bit DPI to drive your screen, or do you have another solution at the ready?

Looking forward to seeing your CAD design for the housing and more updates!
Great job.

 

[sinjunx]

oh wauw, I must follow this!

 

[STB]

(...) Are you using 24-bit DPI to drive your screen, or do you have another solution at the ready?
(...)

I'm using RGB666. The reason for that is that I'm using PWM sound on GPIO18 & GPIO19. Unfortunately I2S is always blocked when using DPI.
Currently I'm fighting with the analog sticks. I bought 10 pcs on Aliexpress, so far I tried 3 of them and their lifetime is very limited. Screwed on the PCB they fail after a few cycles. Do you have a recommendation for good parts?
Also my speakers are awful . I ordered a collection of other ones to see what will be the best. I'll post my results.

 

[STB]

Some impressions on the motion sensing feature:

 

[STB]

Sorry for my long absence.

I had a charger/powersupply issue with the prototype. Epecially the charger IC caused a lot of headache. My interpretation of the current limiting feature in the datasheet was "a bit" different from the IC designers interpretation. So it happened that overcurret was triggered during gameplay and the unit crashed.

Because of component shortages it took a while to build a powersupply prototype board that can replace the actual implementation.
The good news is that it is "rock solid" up to 3.5A @5V.

With the new powersupply implementation it would be also possible to use the RPi 4b. Let's see how this can be managed. I'll keep you updated.

 

[Adan]

This is yes

 

[STB]

A lot of work lies behind me . As I wrote before I'd like to use the RPi4. As result I re-desigend it to use the CM4.
I also introduced some new fearures:

• 5V, 3.5A powersupply
• 2 analog shoulder inputs using linear Hall-sensors
• HDMI output on the PCB because the CM4 has none
• Micro-SD slot on the PCB because the CM4 has none
• Touch interface for certain TFTs
• PWM controlled fan
• Temperature sensor to monitor the CM4 temperature
• Rumble motor

Here a first impression:
Backside

Frontside (without TFT mounted)

Frontside (Rubber buttons)

 

[STB]

Currently I'm planning the prtototype build. Building the 1st two prototypes was with approx. 220US$ (per pcs. without RPi & TFT) quite expensive. Is there some interest in a prototype so that the amount of samples is increasing? Prices drop dramtically if I could make more than 10 pcs. I'd assume that for 10 pcs. the prototypes cost less than 100 US$ per pcs. Most of the features are already tested with the 1st two prototypes and the powersupply board so it's very unlikely that it will not run.