Worklog The Piico

[Spencer Richardson]

Hey all!

I've started working on another portable recently so I thought I'd make a worklog! I really wanted my next portable to comfortably fit in my pocket, so I decided to go super small. The dimensions are 136×81×34mm(30mms at the thinnest).

The the specs and design are pretty much finalized and I created all of the components in fusion 360, so theoretically it all fits. But I guess we'll see! Haha

Specs:

3D printed case
3.5" screen
×2 18650 cells
All of Aurelio's pizza magic(gc+, powermii)
3d printed face and shoulder buttons
3ds sliders with custom gamecube controller stick caps

Rumble

Usb c breakout box for players 1-4, composite & component video, and audio

OMGWTF trim


Fusion 360 pics

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Here's a pic to help visualize how small it is

 

[GingerOfOz]

Wow, you weren't kidding. Those buttons do look really nice. Super stoked to see how this turns out!

 

[jefflongo]

I'm always impressed with the stuff you come up with. Looking forward to this one.

EDIT: Are those the mini GC controller buttons?

 

[Spencer Richardson]

I'm always impressed with the stuff you come up with. Looking forward to this one.

EDIT: Are those the mini GC controller buttons?

Nah. I considered those, but they were just slightly too small for my liking. plus I would have to trim them down. So I decided to print them. I bought some small samples of abs, so I could sand and then acetone smooth them. It worked pretty well but abs is pretty nasty stuff, so I definitely won't be using it for any larger prints. haha

 

[Matthew]

Absolutely gorgeous, I'm wondering how this will compare to @Shank's piiwii. I'm really looking forward to this.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Absolutely gorgeous, I'm wondering how this will compare to @Shank's piiwii. I'm really looking forward to this.

It's smaller, but only has 2 cells instead of 4, which is a pretty big compromise. Haha but with powermii charge and play it won't be too bad.

 

[Noah]

Actually, with PowerMii you should be able to wire the batteries in parallel for the same capacity as the PiiWii. As long as everything can be run off of 5V or lower, that is.

@Aurelio should be able to confirm.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Actually, with PowerMii you should be able to wire the batteries in parallel for the same capacity as the PiiWii. As long as everything can be run off of 5V or lower, that is.

@Aurelio should be able to confirm.

I think it would still end up being half the Wh of the piiwii. I could be wrong though. Haha

 

[Noah]

IIRC the PiiWii used two sets of 18650s, both wired in series then in parallel to get 7.4V at 6800mAh. I could be wrong too though lmao

 

[jefflongo]

IIRC the PiiWii used two sets of 18650s, both wired in series then in parallel to get 7.4V at 6800mAh. I could be wrong too though lmao

I believe Aurelio mentioned that even though you can wire them in parallel the power consumption would be about the same.

 

[Aurelio]

I believe Aurelio mentioned that even though you can wire them in parallel the power consumption would be about the same.

Correct. The total amount of energy (Wh) doesn't change if you wire them in series or in parallel. The only difference is that PowerMii should be a bit more efficient than PTHs

 

[Shank]

This looks so good. Much better internal layout than the PiiWii. 4 cells is not the way to go for a portable this size. Never again...

How are you going to print the back curved part? It won't be able to sit on the bed flat. Have you considered printing the back grips as separate pieces, similar to @Gman's GS2?

 

[Spencer Richardson]

Thanks! And yeah that's what I've been doing with test prints so far. I've been considering making them detachable, but I'm not sure yet.

 

[Spencer Richardson]

I finished the final print of my case today. I made a few modifications, including screw posts. It came out really nice, although I will still have to do alot of sanding. I used esun pla+, which I have really really liked. It is slightly more flexible than pla(similar to abs) but prints with ease like pla. It also prints at a slightly higher temp so I'm hoping it will be a bit more resilient to the heat of the sun and car. Haha