Pi in a Keyboard

[aawood]

I have a Pi on the way (hopefully, eventually), and I've been thinking about bringing it that much closer to it's ZX Spectrum inspired roots by housing it in a keyboard. I've found a few threads on this topic already, but nothing that quite matches yet... this thread quickly switches gear to talking about just using a wireless keyboard, this one focuses more on building a case from scratch with a custom mini keyboard, and finally this thread tailed off before it got anywhere. Likewise, while it's probably a smart idea to use a case from an older home system like a Spectrum or BBC system, then you need to figure out how to make the keyboard work on the Pi, and it's a whole different type of project.

It seems like a simple idea at first; just jam a Pi in a keyboard, thread the cable internally to the Pi, poke a few holes in the case for power and HDMI, and you're done (well, on the hardware side, you probably don't want to be booting into X for this, unless you do a bit more to get a mouse in). By all means bonus points for making SD, LAN, or the second USB accessible without opening it up again, but by no means do you have to complicate matters that way if you don't want.

The only real stumbling block is finding a keyboard with the space to put it all in. Elsewhere this keyboard with dedicated storage space got a mention, and it's probably not actually a bad choice... but you'd have to starts making holes in it anyway to start getting the cables in and out and to redirect the keyboard's own USB to the Pi and such, and given you essentially pay the cost of the keyboard again for international shipping, I'm thinking we can do better somehow.

There must, surely, be some keyboards out there that have the spare internal capacity for a Pi simply by means of being that big? As a bonus, I'd wager that the kind of keyboards we could slot a Pi in would likely be along the lines of the nice big clunky key keyboards that would be oh-so-satisifying to use for this.

So, Pi community, help me out here; what USB keyboards are there out there with enough wasted space inside that we could fill them with Pi?

[jbeale]

My first impulse would be to find a cheap keyboard with a plastic case in two pieces, top & bottom held together by screws. Then open it up and add some longer screws and standoffs so there is enough room inside. Finally, close up the perimeter with whatever matching, or contrasting materials seem suitable, leaving holes for any needed cables.

[aawood]

Oooh, I like that. I like that a lot. It could work with almost any keyboard, it's a simple enough mod for anyone to do, and having space for cables without needing to cut up the plastic is a particularly nice bonus!

[jbeale]

I just looked underneath the keyboard I'm using now, a basic Dell model. I don't recommend this one; it uses 15 screws!

[Vindicator]

Did you look at the link in my post on the second link you put up.

http://www.raspberrypi.org/for.....pi/page-10

I have a few pictures of my keyboard project and it is currently waiting for a PI to fill it out.

hub, hdd, active adapter etc. are all ready for installation as soon as mine ever gets here.

The keyboard has been made operational and was used to create the original post.

AT keyboards will not directly work on USB without a active adapter.

I am going to install panel cables to bring out any connectors that me be required.

Such as this usb panel mount cable.

http://shop.sgwelectronics.com.....129-01.htm

Its all going to matter which way the PI is mounted and were the usb hub and HDD will have to be located as to what cabling may be needed to make it work so hence still waiting for PI.