Cases for the Raspberry Pi

Mike Lake said:

* full air-conditioning (well, air circulation) to keep things cool - at least one of the chips on the RPi runs pretty warm,

It's a 'cool' case (pun intended ), but as the sides are open why drill holes in the top? For cooling that's absolutely pointless and just adds to manufacturing costs.

3+9=? ...

1..nope

2..nope

3..nope

4..nope

5..nope

6..nope

7..nope

8..nope

9..nope

10..nope

11..nope

OK, it was 12!

Poing

You asked why all the holes:

Rectangular ones on top are to put cables into the Pi sockets: DSI, CSI, GPIO, JTAG; easy to leave them out if not really required.

Circular ones on top are for daughter boards.

The new rectangular ones on bottom (the Mark 2) are for cable ties to hold a battery pack and for the battery lead to go up to the RPi.

Circular ones on the bottom are for daughter boards (I really like the PiStack idea and I have a couple of projects that will stack things under the RPi – I think the RPi itself should be at the top of the stack 'cus it looks good.)

The concentric circular holes on the bottom are "just because" – my CNC milling machine made short work of them.  If they add more than a few pence to the manufacture price I will leave them off

Mike Lake said:

Don't hide your Pi away - and keep it cool man!

Anyone want an "at cost" PiHouse?

Will be very interested in the cost and definitely interested if it's not too expensive (in relation to the Pi itself). Pics of your milled one look great. Nice job.

mikeplow1961

This afternoon I saw one company about laser cutting and I am seeing another on Tuesday morning to compare laser with water cutting.

I should have prices from them by Wednesday/Thursday next week.

I will then price it all up, including nuts & bolts, shipping etc. and I hope to be able to post a firm price by next Friday evening.

The brilliant news is that since I posted the message yesterday I have had a LOT of interest from round the world - including from the Pi-Less I would imagine <g>

Someone asked about VESA mounting so I have designed, and am having priced up, an optional replacement for the base of the PiHouse so it will fit the VESA screw holes on the back of displays.

Also getting some longer screws to do PiStacks - RPi on top, "things what do" underneath.  More info on http://www.ThePiShop.org.

Fun, eh?

This was the question:

Can you make a case for the Raspberry Pi yourself with the stuff you find in your home?

I said: Challenge accepted!

After a day of search if find a Genius EasyMouse hidden in my attic and after 2 days in my spare time a completed the challenge:

http://goo.gl/6cv3l (picasa album of final case with 5 pics, also 2 picture of the mouse before I ruined it, those 2 pics are downloaded from somewhere else)

I used Dremel 300 hobby tool if anyone wondering. The quality of the case isn't good because I'm obviously can't really do this.

Before fitting the RPI in the mouse i tried a audio cassette case, which is almost good. Someone should make a case like that.

I do think there needs to be a "Most bizarre raspi case competition thread!"

DLT Tape case.
Tools used:
- marker;
- pin, held with a pair of pliers, heated over a candle until glows red, cuts through plastic like butter for 2-3 seconds;
- box cutter for smoothing the hole edges.

Pro:
- fits RPi + simmilar sized perfboard perfectly.
- DLT tape cases stack perfectly (ridges on the bottom fit in grooves on the top)

Cons:
- Audio & Composite (or HDMI) not on edge. I "translated" the audio port on the side using a small 3.5" jack + cable from some broken headphones and 3.5" socket.

I already fitted a MAX3232 on the perfboard so i can use the serial port, and will put a RTC and some more Gert-Board-ish stuff. If only i could find shorter patch cables

OK Guys,

Here's my RPi Case (PiPod ). I could think of loads of introductions, but they would all probably turn into flame wars. Here's a couple of photos

IMG_20120514_104009.jpg (57.18 KiB) Viewed 2618 times

IMG_20120514_104110.jpg (63.61 KiB) Viewed 2618 times

IMG_20120514_104049.jpg (61.21 KiB) Viewed 2618 times

Next job, get the screen put back in and connect it to the header.

Next job, get the screen put back in and connect it to the header.

Good luck with that!
Will be interested to hear how it goes.
The Raspberry Pi actually fits quite well into that case doesn't it, although the SD card does seem to be quite some way in, which might make changing it over a bit tricky.
A nice idea though!

Rough test case so far

Whilst in my local Poundland (other pound stores are available) I managed to pick up an HDMI cable and some kind of protective case for a Playstation Portable (no idea which model).

It actually fits the Pi quite well as long as you're using HDMI - the various cutouts for joysticks and buttons allow cables to be snuck in (YMMV). It also looks quite cool and seems to help prevent cables being pulled out when snagged. The case itself is hinged but it's a bit more of an embuggerance to replace cables and SD cards but I think it might do next to the TV.

Plus of course it cost £1 which seems in keeping with the ethos of the Pi.

IMG_0205.jpg (57.95 KiB) Viewed 2380 times

Just wanted a case rather fast. Need to upgrade it later on. Yet another lego case:

Raspberry Pi Case by matthew-evans, on Flickr


Raspberry Pi Case by matthew-evans, on Flickr


Raspberry Pi Case by matthew-evans, on Flickr

Here's mine

Just to follow up my post of May 4th.

The PiHouse is now in production using a firm that specialises in laser cutting acrylic and based about half and hour from me - near Mansfield.

Each batch manufactured contains:

PiHouse top plate
PiHouse base plate
PiHouse Rpi supports
VESA mounting plate (100mm x 100mm & 75mm x 75mm). This can replace the base plate or create a new layer.

Spare base plates and side walls are available for stacking layers. (Daughter boards, batteries etc.)

All nuts, bolts, washers, spacers and feet provided.

Details on http://www.ThePiShop.org.

Well I have already ready the case and I'm already thinking about the next model to be developed ...

Just to follow up my post of May 4th.

The PiHouse is now in production using a firm that specialises in laser cutting acrylic and based about half and hour from me - near Mansfield.

Each batch manufactured contains:

PiHouse top plate
PiHouse base plate
PiHouse Rpi supports
VESA mounting plate (100mm x 100mm & 75mm x 75mm). This can replace the base plate or create a new layer.

Spare base plates and side walls are available for stacking layers. (Daughter boards, batteries etc.)

All nuts, bolts, washers, spacers and feet provided.

Details on http://www.ThePiShop.org.

I've just bought one of these - it looks cool. I'll post picks when it arrives. Good price and design by the looks

Just to follow up my post of May 4th.

The PiHouse is now in production using a firm that specialises in laser cutting acrylic and based about half and hour from me - near Mansfield.

Each batch manufactured contains:

PiHouse top plate
PiHouse base plate
PiHouse Rpi supports
VESA mounting plate (100mm x 100mm & 75mm x 75mm). This can replace the base plate or create a new layer.

Spare base plates and side walls are available for stacking layers. (Daughter boards, batteries etc.)

All nuts, bolts, washers, spacers and feet provided.

Details on http://www.ThePiShop.org.

I've just bought one of these - it looks cool. I'll post picks when it arrives. Good price and design by the looks

So did I & it's impossible to build!

If you look at the instructions at stage 6 you put the supports in place, then at stage 7 you are supposed to put in the board - notice how the support nearest to the SD card has suddenly moved to the right. That of course doesn't happen with the one you get in the post!

So did I & it's impossible to build!

If you look at the instructions at stage 6 you put the supports in place, then at stage 7 you are supposed to put in the board - notice how the support nearest to the SD card has suddenly moved to the right. That of course doesn't happen with the one you get in the post!

If that is indeed the case it does give some cause for concern, and I would have thought we might have received a reply or comment from Mike Lake on this subject by now... where are you Mike?

The Pi Crust:
10% from sales donated to the Raspberry Pi Foundation. £6.99 Free P+P
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=261035904587

Just to follow up my post of May 4th.

The PiHouse is now in production using a firm that specialises in laser cutting acrylic and based about half and hour from me - near Mansfield.

Each batch manufactured contains:

PiHouse top plate
PiHouse base plate
PiHouse Rpi supports
VESA mounting plate (100mm x 100mm & 75mm x 75mm). This can replace the base plate or create a new layer.

Spare base plates and side walls are available for stacking layers. (Daughter boards, batteries etc.)

All nuts, bolts, washers, spacers and feet provided.

Details on http://www.ThePiShop.org.

I've just bought one of these - it looks cool. I'll post picks when it arrives. Good price and design by the looks

So did I & it's impossible to build!

If you look at the instructions at stage 6 you put the supports in place, then at stage 7 you are supposed to put in the board - notice how the support nearest to the SD card has suddenly moved to the right. That of course doesn't happen with the one you get in the post!

Mark

I'll let you know how I get one. I'm away for a week or so, so unkless I get this today, I won't be able to build until I gert back.

Would you call this an RpiD2 ?

So did I & it's impossible to build!

If you look at the instructions at stage 6 you put the supports in place, then at stage 7 you are supposed to put in the board - notice how the support nearest to the SD card has suddenly moved to the right. That of course doesn't happen with the one you get in the post!

To me it looks like the support is in the same position as it was earlier. On the other hand it is perhaps easy to see it as if it has moved if you miss that the orientation of the bottom plate has changed 180 degrees between pic 5 and pic 7 i.e. the GPIO hole is at the upper left corner in pic 5 and lower right corner in pic 7 and since the supports are not at the same position for both ends it may look as it has moved. I would probaly turn the whole thing 180 degrees.

On the other hand I might have misunderstood.

So did I & it's impossible to build!

If you look at the instructions at stage 6 you put the supports in place, then at stage 7 you are supposed to put in the board - notice how the support nearest to the SD card has suddenly moved to the right. That of course doesn't happen with the one you get in the post!

To me it looks like the support is in the same position as it was earlier. On the other hand it is perhaps easy to see it as if it has moved if you miss that the orientation of the bottom plate has changed 180 degrees between pic 5 and pic 7 i.e. the GPIO hole is at the upper left corner in pic 5 and lower right corner in pic 7 and since the supports are not at the same position for both ends it may look as it has moved. I would probaly turn the whole thing 180 degrees.

On the other hand I might have misunderstood.

Well fan my brow ! You are right, the unit has been flipped between photos 5 & 7! Once that was made clear, it took a few minutes to assemble.

Note to Mike Lake: Please update your build instructions to reflect this to save others my frustrations!

The nicest looking case i've seen so far is this one http://solidworksbootcamp.com/raspberry-pi-board-b-enclosure/ But it don't seem like you can buy it :/