After months of free time hacking, I've finally completed a prototype of my first console case. Since it was going to go under my TV, I wanted something made from premium materials that felt more like a console than a computer case. I decided that it would be primarily classic Nintendo games going onto it (NES, SNES, GameBoy, Advance) so it should support native SNES controllers.
After iterating through three full designs, I finally landed on one that requires no glue or fasteners to hold the case together; only tension. I cut slits into the acrylic in a special configuration that allows it to expand like an accordion and hook into notches on the feet, and engraved grooves into the inside to hold the front and back panels in place. That way I can easy get into the case if I need to access / replace / add / upgrade components.
The front and back pieces are 1/4" solid walnut. The wrap is 1/8" specialty matte black acrylic sheet I got from a plastics distributor (really nasty stuff to work with but has a stunning finish). There is small acrylic plate that holds the SNES ports and LED to the front panel and a 1/8" panel that holds the Pi 3 between the front and back panels. I went with a ControlBlock to make it easier to implement the ports, LED, and power switch. The dimensions of the unit are 6" W x 5.5” D x 1.5" H.
Piforce was designed in Illustrator and all pieces were cut with an Epilog Fusion 60w CO2 laser. There are a half dozen or so components as well (terminals, fasteners, etc) which I am happy to list if anyone wants to know, as it took me forever to track it all down!
Anyway, here's a few photos of the project. Next steps are to make a few modifications and really tune in the design. After that, I'll move on to designing a custom Piforce ES theme and video splash screen. Thanks for checking it out!
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Topic: Piforce: A Pi-based Console (Read 3190 times)
