YouTuber Ben, of the channel Ben Makes All the pieces, has designed a lovely TRS-80 Mannequin 100-style cyberdeck which performs host to a Framework Mainboard single-board laptop (SBC) — and which improves on the unique design by together with the flexibility to tilt the display for extra snug viewing.
“I created this cyberdeck from an older Framework [Mainboard] motherboard/CPU unit, battery, and audio system,” Ben writes of the mission. “I used a large 8:3 side ratio show I discovered on Amazon for the display. It has an built-in mini-trackball and makes use of a[n Apple] Magic 2 keyboard.”
As Ben says, the driving pressure behind the gadget is a Framework Mainboard — initially designed to be put in in a Framework modular laptop computer however later launched as a standalone single-board laptop in its personal proper. With the launch of extra highly effective Intel- and AMD-based Mainboards, these upgrading their Framework laptops have been looking for methods to make use of the outdated Mainboards — and it is a significantly slick method.
The chassis is constructed from CNC-milled aluminum plates, to supply structural rigidity with out extreme weight, with a 3D-printed body holding all of the parts in place. The show is mounted above the keyboard, as with the traditional TRS-80 Mannequin 100 — however in contrast to its religious ancestor, Ben’s show can tilt upwards on hinges to supply a extra snug viewing expertise.
The show part of the case folds flat for storage or a extra conventional TRS-80 Mannequin 100 expertise. (📷: Ben Makes All the pieces)
“Along with the usual options of any Home windows laptop computer, it has an built-in Arduino [compatible microcontroller] with 10 accessible pins that I can use to manage stuff,” Ben notes. “It additionally has video enter, which means I can use the display as a short lived monitor if I’m engaged on one other laptop/Raspberry Pi, and so forth.”
Extra info on the construct is offered within the above video and in Ben’s Reddit put up; Fusion 360 and STEP design recordsdata, and an Arduino sketch for the trackball, have been printed to GitHub below an unspecified open supply license.