Maker Ryan Whalen has put collectively a distraction-free “digital typewriter,” powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and an ePaper show: the TypeWryter.
“I needed to a no distraction, digital typewriter, just like the Astrohaus Freewrite Traveler,” Whalen explains of the challenge’s origins, “however they’re, like, $500. So I made a decision to construct my very own factor as an alternative. [I] saved myself $400+ as an alternative of shopping for a Freewrite.”
The TypeWryter goals to supply a distraction-free writing expertise at a fraction the price of business choices. (📷: Ryan Whalen)
The Freewrite Traveler is one among a spread of writing instruments from Astrohaus, alongside the sooner and steampunk-esque Good Typewriter and the AlphaSmart-inspired Alpha, which goal to eliminate the distractions obtainable on trendy internet-connected multitasking units. There isn’t any help for apps, no net browser or social media, nor even any colours: only a black-and-white show and a snug keyboard.
In search of the identical expertise however with out the multi-hundred-dollar price ticket, Whalen set about making his personal. The center of the compact construct is a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W single-board laptop working TypeWryter, a terminal-based plain textual content editor primarily based on the sooner zerowriter challenge. “It would not permit any fancy enhancing,” Whalen explains. “You may write and you may backspace, that is it; stopping the urge to return and edit. Information save on each carriage return.”
The 3D-printed housing holds the display, the Raspberry Pi, and a UPS battery for on-the-go productiveness. (📷: Ryan Whalen)
Booting straight into the editor, the Raspberry Pi shows its output on a Waveshare 4.2″ ePaper show — which makes use of electrophoretic expertise to supply a paper-like viewing expertise with no again nor entrance mild. That is housed inside a 3D-printed case, which additionally hides a Pi Sugar 3 uninterruptible energy provide (UPS) — permitting the instrument for use on-the-go with any USB keyboard.
“If you happen to navigate to Menu –> Community File Browser –> Begin Server a neighborhood Flask webserver will spin up on no matter system is working TypeWryter,” Whalen writes of file retrieval. “TypeWryter will current you with a URL, QR Code, and four-digit password. You may both go to the URL or scan the QR code, after which enter the password to see the recordsdata in your TypeWryter.”
Extra info is out there on Whalen’s Reddit put up, whereas the supply code has been revealed to GitHub underneath an unspecified license.