raspberry pi workbench

thingiverse

This is a workbench I designed for a family member to learn electronics. Everything is easy to reach and assemble, and it makes for a simpler, cleaner workspace. Now, you can have one self-contained box that holds your entire electronics lesson. 7 ports right up front make connecting sensors, keyboards, receivers and drives easy. GPIO connectors up and to the side keep them out of the way while still being easy to reach. If you are using a rock64 or any other sbc with limited ports, you'll probably have trouble attaching both the usb hub and the external SSD to the board, so I've left a hidden channel on the left side that lets you slide in the adapter with the cord facing the front. It is just long enough to reach the first USB port. Cooling isn't an issue as the rock64 runs pretty cool and the the raspberry Pi 4 is out in the open and capable of cooling itself. Somewhat heavy USB plugs do not hang precariously out the side, so there is no risk of snagging them or putting strain on the connectors. There is a hole for a DC jack in the rear if you want to break out a soldering iron and tie everything into one plug. Hint: When disassembling the USB hub, keep the rubber feet from the case. You can stick them on the bottom of this to keep it in place on the desk. They still have enough stickiness after you pull them off. I am planning on variations of this workbench to meet different educational needs so if it's not a good fit for your class/nephew/jr mad scientist, check back here later.