Pseudonymous maker “jefmer” has designed a conveyable Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-powered PC with a compact ortholinear mechanical keyboard, positioned instantly beneath a 7″ colour show: the Pickle Pi.
“The title of this mission comes — pretty clearly — from the mix of the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and the Gherkin 30% mechanical keyboard,” jefmer explains of the gadget’s uncommon moniker. “Having used 40% keyboards in my final two tasks (Moveable Pi and Pocket Pad) I wished to strive a good smaller keyboard” a 30% keyboard has precisely 30 keys whereas a 40% keyboard truly has 48 keys.”
Named for its compact keyboard, the Pickle Pi is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W-powered moveable PC. (📷: jefmer)
Utilizing a TRS-80 Mannequin 100-style flat format, somewhat than a contemporary clamshell kind issue, the Pickle Pi is designed to be each compact and finger-friendly. The keyboard — in distinction with the maker’s earlier PDA-inspired Pocket Pad — makes use of full-size keycaps on customary mechanical switches, albeit in a compact ortholinear format that requires using layers to entry something aside from alphabetical characters.
Above the keyboard is a Waveshare 7″ touchscreen show, providing a 1,024×600 decision and a controller board designed particularly to be used with the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W — probably the most highly effective of the Raspberry Pi Zero vary, and the one mannequin to supply greater than a single processor core. An Arduino-compatible keyboard controller hyperlinks the Raspberry Pi to the keyboard, and a 10Ah battery pack supplies energy for on-the-go operation — all sandwiched between two items of perspex.
The show makes use of a Waveshare management board constructed particularly for the Raspberry Pi Zero vary. (📷: jefmer)
“I actually just like the Pickle Pi’s pill format and the Gherkin is an effective way of offering full dimension keys such that the keyboard continues to be appropriate with the general pill dimensions,” jefmer writes. “Much less passable is the limitation on the applications that the pill can run [on its 512MB of RAM]. Consequently, the subsequent step on this mission is to take a look at the feasibility of changing the Pi Zero with a Pi 4. I’ve already established that the facility financial institution isn’t able to assembly the wants of a Pi 5.”
The total mission write-up is offered on Hackday.io.