PiStation 3 - Retropie with PWM controlled Fan, Multi-use Button and Activity LED

thingiverse

I really liked jhamples and samhazels version of the PiStation design but thought I could take it one step further and improve on whats been designed so far. So in the spirit of remixing and open source I have created my own version of the PiStation with improvements. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Parts: -------- 1 x 3mm green LED (Or color of your choice) 2.0-2.4VDC forward drop / Suggested current: 16-18mA. 1 x 68 ohm Resistor for LED (above) (100 ohm will work but will not be as bright but still safe). 1 x 2n2222a Transistor (To switch the fan on and off based on PWM). 1 x 1k ohm Resistor for Transistor. 1 x Diode IN4004 (To protect the Pi from back feeding current from the fan, IN4001 will work also). 1 x 12mm Momentary push button with LED / 3VDC or 5VDC version using a resistor (https://www.aliexpress.com/item/12mm-LED-3V-5V-12V-24V-220V-Metal-Button-Switch-Momentary-push-button-auto-reset-waterproof/32893189184.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.27424c4deg2N4q) 1 x 30mm Fan. 1 x set of Heatsinks for Raspberry Pi (Optional). 2 x 2.5m Phillips Flat Head screws (6mm long) / Used to hold down Pi securely to the bottom part. 2 x 2.5m Phillips Flat Head screws (8mm-10mm long) / Used to screw bottom part securely to top part. 1 x 2.5m Tap (To tap the thread for the holes, you could possible use self tapping screws but I haven't tried this myself). Dupont connectors and wire or crimp your own. Soldering Iron. Solder. Heat shrink. Wirecutters/Strippers. Wire. Optional: ------------ Glue gun. Dupont Crimper, Crimp heads and connector shells. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Improved Features -------------------------- * Triple function button (quick press shutsdown retropie, long press restarts retropie, quick press when retropie is shutdown boots Pi) * Allows the installation of Fan and Heatsinks at the same time. * PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) used for Fan speed regulation to avoid unnecessary fan noise (Thank you Andreas Spiess for his insightful YT video and code). * Access to Micro SD Card for easy swapping if needed. * Button allows to shutdown your Raspberry Pi safely or to reboot (Quick press shuts down Pi, hold for more than 3 seconds reboots Pi). * Activity LED gives a visual indicator of your Pi's current activity. * Added standoffs to allow using screws to hold the bottom and top parts together from the bottom (No visible screws). * Added screw holes to screw the Raspberry Pi down to the bottom part (No visible screws). * Mini Grill added to bottom of the Raspberry Pi to help cool the ram chip. * Fixed alignment of fan posts to fit fan correctly (Still tight but a little sandpaper helps). * Alignment of ports is better/tighter. * Used correct Font for the PiStation text to look more authentic to the original Playstation font. * Cutout text throughout the entire text instead of half the letters (Looks better IMO). Also improves airflow. * Removed the side grills which were used for airflow purposes as the new Micro SD card access hole and ram grill underneath provides the airflow necessary while reducing dust getting in. * Removed circular rubber foot placeholders from the bottom. They printed badly due to the overhangs. This also limited the size of rubber feet usable and hence it seems better to allow the user to add the rubber feet to where they would like too or use what available size of rubber feet they have available at the time (Mine were smaller than the original design). Print at either 0.1mm or 0.2mm depending on the time you have. Either is fine. Printed on a Creality CR-10S using Hobby King PLA white with 100% infill for all 3 parts. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Instructions ---------------- 1) Print the 3 parts. 2) Mount Raspberry Pi into Bottom part and use 2 x 6mm 2.5m screws to hold the Pi in place Check Pic #8 for screw placement. 3) Glue the Top part to the Lid (I used Loctite Gel Control Super Glue, works great on PLA) 4) Solder diode between fan + and - (Follow the wiring diagram). 5) Solder wires to Transistor, Fan, Leds and Button (Follow the wiring diagram). 6) Connect Dupont connectors to the correct Raspberry Pi pins (Follow the wiring diagram). 7) Install Retropie onto your Micro SD Card (Follow the instructions on the retropie website) 8) Setup SSH access and wifi on Retropie (Follow the instructions on the retropie website) 9) Install Putty client on your computer to access your Raspberry Pi's SSH service. (Follow the instructions on the retropie website) 10) Add the following lines to the end of the /boot/config.txt file. (Example file included) `# Enable activity LED on GPIO 14 and invert the activity` `dtoverlay=pi3-act-led,activelow=on,gpio=14` `enable_uart=1` `# Set Power LED to Output on GPIO 18 and driven high` `gpio=18=op,dh` 11a) Create the directory called /scripts cd /home/pi mkdir scripts 11b) Create the shutdown.py file in the /home/pi/scripts directory and add the code. (Example file included) sudo nano /home/pi/scripts/shutdown.py add the code provided in the downloaded zip file called shutdown.py Ctrl + O to save the file Ctrl + x to exit the text editor 11c) Make the file shutdown.py run on boot by editing the file rc.local. sudo nano /etc/rc.local Add the following to the file before the line exit 0 sudo python /home/pi/scripts/shutdown.py & Ctrl + O to save the file Ctrl + x to exit the text editor reboot your pi with the following: sudo reboot now 12) Add your Roms to Retropie (Follow the instructions on the retropie website) 13) Enjoy your PiStation :)