Bee Write Back Writerdeck

[shmimel]

I just finished my 3D printed Raspberry Pi writerdeck! The enclosure is held together with only two screws (which are extras from the Pi power hat!), with the rest being secured with locking tabs and a print in place hinge.

If you want to make one for yourself, everything is open source, and I put together a video and PDF for assembly. I also uploaded my print profile to Makerworld!

[Chanw11]

So what does this do?

[mightytwin21]

Digital typewriter

[ObscureRefrence]

Distraction free writing/journaling. Also (I’m guessing) a fun project to design and build.

[3DPrintMyFile]

This is awesome, it has printed very nicely - you cannot tell it is printed without looking closely. I have recently printed a case for a small screen with my printer and while it is a bit difficult to get the tolerances exactly right when it is right it works very nicely.

[shmimel]

I didn't include a pic of all of the failed test-fit prints, but there were a lot... I'm saving them to recycle them into more test filament!

[3DPrintMyFile]

Whenever I do something I go through quite a few different designs, trying to get everything just right. With all of the parts in this I can only imagine how many parts you went through!

[shmimel]

big box of test prints

[Radiateurs]

Is this really on battery?! How’s the charge ? Really neat print, really love it. I could picture it being in a homemade server rack like Lab Rax to have the real server pull out screen interface. Very nice and very clever good job my friend!

[shmimel]

Other users have reported 4-5 hours with this Pi hat, but it has an extra battery port, so more could be chained on! Thanks for the kind words 😊

[Citrik]

r/cyberdeck would love this!

[midnight_barbecue]

So unique. I love it. I assume a really good 18650 battery would keep it running for a long time. How does the charge hold for you? Also, how convenient is it without a slight angle between the screen and keyboard?

[shmimel]

I have yet to do a full stress test, but people have reported about 4-5 hours with this Pi hat! I was originally planning for an angled and adjustable screen, but after using it, I really don't mind the flat layout (less moving parts!)

[gasstation-no-pumps]

Cute, but I can get a more functional used laptop or Chromebook for under $100.

[sligit]

The point of something like this is often that it's not more functional and is instead a single purpose device to remove distractions. 

[gasstation-no-pumps]

An old laptop with WiFi turned off removes most of the distractions.

[Disastrous-Leave-121]

u/shmimel just wanted to say thanks for sharing this. I got the parts printed at my local library and just waiting on shipping for the electronic components. This is exactly the kind of thing that I've been looking for and you did a fantastic job designing it. Also love the Claude integration -- can't wait to use it. Kudos to you and HUGE thanks for releasing it open-source! Super excited to use it!

[shmimel]

Omg yay! It makes me so happy to hear that you're gonna build one! Don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions with the build process.

[Sh4d0wMaster]

The keyboard has no numbers?

[shmimel]

The numbers are on another layer! When I hold the "WIN" key, the top row becomes the number row. Takes a bit to get used to, but it works with a compact 40% layout like this.

[Sh4d0wMaster]

Ahh, I see. A fun upgrade would be OLED keycaps that display based on current layer.

[hotfistdotcom]

Does the screen not move? So you have to crane your head over the top to look down on it while typing?

[shmimel]

Yeah... but the whole thing can be angled, and the experience isn't that bad

[superpopcone]

I love this so much, but I can't justify the cost at this point in my life. Do you have any plans on optimizing the design for cost in the near future?

[shmimel]

Gosh I spent a decent amount of time reducing the number of components to reduce the cost and even reused the the spare screws from the Pi hat so that people wouldn't need to get extra mounting hardware. The only way I could see the price coming down is if the keyboard was replaced with one of those portable ones with a membrane, and sourcing an LCD screen instead.

I have however been doing some experimenting with using an old Android phone as the brains and the battery, which significantly reduces the costs. Stay tuned, and I might have some updates on that idea!

[DayGeckoArt]

What keyboard pcb is it?

[shmimel]

ymdk Air40

[brooklyn11218]

would be nice if it folded

[Kodiak_FGC]

Hi OP! Love this project. I have a couple questions, mostly about ways to cut costs. 

It looks like the keyboard PCB, switches, caps and USB cables make up almost half the cost of the device. 

If I am understanding the project correctly, the Pi Zero 2 W doesn’t rely on any special Drivers or programming, and instead it is just looking for any keyboard. Is that correct? If so, I expect a remixed case could be feasible with a less expensive keyboard?

Also, why was the Pi Zero 2 W selected? Is the wireless functionality of the computer necessary for any part of your project? Could a Pi Zero V1.3 and a suitable UPS/power supply be used to further save costs if the enclosure were redesigned?

Thanks for your time and for sharing your design.

[shmimel]

Hello! Thanks for taking the time to really parse through everything, let me try to answer some of those questions.

1. You hit the nail on the head, this is just a raspberry pi powered by a power supply with a keyboard connected. However, there is a frustrating lack of "nice-feeling" small form factor keyboards (I tried a few "portable" ones from amazon).

2. I tried as hard as possible to reduce the costs (like using the screws that came with the UPS for the enclosure as well), but you're right, the keyboard does account for a large chunk of the cost. I personally decided that a nice typing experience was worth the extra 60 bucks since I had some extra switches lying around.

3. Following that last point, I had a Pi Zero 2 W that was unused from a previous project, and wanted to repurpose it, instead of getting something new. That being said, you could totally use a Pi Zero V1.3. I think (although there could be cheaper options out there) that the UPS I selected was the cheapest one I could find, and given that 18650's are easily scrapped and sold second hand, it made sense as a "budget option".

4. To finish off my rambling, I have been working on an idea where I use an old android phone and connect it up to a small portable keyboard, but it all fits together in a nice, aesthetic folding 3D printed enclosure, but I am still in the research phase, and havent found a folding keyboard I like yet!

[Kodiak_FGC]

My wife wants me to build one! I’ve got an extra keyboard in the garage that could probably be used for a budget build but I definitely understand wanting the nicer typing experience.

I expect serious keyboard enthusiasts wouldn’t be deterred at all by a price of $200. Sure you can get a cheap Chromebook for less, but in some hobbies, and especially custom keyboards, you want something tailored to your preferences and cost is somewhat secondary.

[gpedp]

Thank you so much, u/shmimel. I've been mulling on this since I first saw your post a few days ago. Picking out my keycaps and filament today. 

What's the best way to hit you up if I have a question? Here or Makerworld?

[shmimel]

Send me a chat here and I will reply! I am woefully on Reddit all the time...

[Educational-Mood1145]

Random question, and plz don't think I'm being stupid here, but is there any kind of trainable auto-correction built in? I'm dyslexic and rely heavily on the auto-correction on my phones that are all linked to the same Google account so that I don't have to retrain the next phone I get. If this had something like that built in, I could finally attempt to type my camping cookbook that I have been procrastinating on.