Tiny Scratch-Built Cyberdeck Is In Mint Situation

[Salim Benbouziyane] reveals off his TN Deck, a tiny custom cyberdeck built into an Altoids tin. It’s a skillful construct that basically makes the a lot of the obtainable house, and contains not solely display and keyboard but additionally rechargeable energy provide and speaker.

The TN Deck is constructed across the Raspberry Pi Compute Module Zero, which is actually the identical as a Pi Zero W however in a extra compact, castellated PCB type issue meant to be built-in into different designs. [Salim]’s customized PCB additionally handles energy, sound, and places a customized keyboard on the entrance operating QMK, which is just about the best choice for custom keyboards and macropads of every kind.

The keyboard itself is generally 3D printed. Each button consists of a dome tactile swap on the PCB, coated with a skinny and versatile membrane printed in TPU and topped with 3D-printed keycaps. The markings are courtesy of [Salim]’s desktop IR laser marking machine, as a result of a little trial-and-error with lasers can yield good marks on 3D prints. [Salim] says the keys don’t have a lot journey and the ergonomics aren’t the most effective, however what it lacks in consolation it makes up for in small measurement and economical design.

We additionally actually favored [Salim]’s use of a printed drill information for placing exact holes within the Altoid tin for issues like an audio jack, taking the guesswork out of device positioning.

Some cyberdecks are made to go well with particular wants, and others are made for the love of the sport. The TN Deck is among the latter and [Salim]’s earlier CM Deck was a little bit of each. We can’t wait to see what he makes subsequent.