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3D printing the case - part 1

A project log for Wearable Raspberry Pi personal assistant

Powered by Raspberry Pi, Python, #pyLCI, 18650 cells and tons of peripherals.

aryaArya 05/25/2016 at 00:220 Comments

Wearable assistant is getting a nice black 3D-printed ABS shell. It seems to be sturdy enough, and a little bit of dremelling helps with most problems. With new case, comes the new mounting system. It's going to be mounted on a fabric belt or even two belts wrapped around the wrist, and modules are going to be attached to the belt(s) using clips, possibly, magnets. It's also going to be help in place by the 40-pin IDC connector, though I wouldn't rely on this too much.

I'm having a hard time designing the "front" module, which's supposed to contain the comms and the camera. It's the most visible module since it's at the front, and the camera has to point to the front as well, and it also will need to have some special functionality which's yet to be told about. One thing is clear - there will be more versions of it.

And the comms module case is done, now printing for the 3rd hour. I've also made a case for the Pi camera, which's meant to sit in the "protective shell" of some sort. No fancy lenses for the camera, I'll want to try fisheye lenses but for that the whole comms module case will need to be redone. I'm printing it with 100% fill - it's the most vulnerable part, for example, if I were to fall, I'm falling on it. Therefore, I need to reinforce the camera case lid. Future version will have even better reinforcement.

I need a fabric belt for assembling it all together - I've given mine to a friend for his project. I also need the main module, the power module and buttons for the display module designed and printed. Wonder if it all can be done in a day... And then, I need to make a new power module since I lost that one I've made. Guess I'll need to visit plenty of stores this weekend if I want this project finished by Sunday. Oh, and etching boards. I'm doing that tomorrow, a lot.

I'll also need to spend a day on pyLCI. Could be Friday, most likely will be. After that, I'm spending the entire week on it because it's the way my assistant will communicate with me and I suddenly need all the cool features I can implement in pyLCI apps so that my bracelet is not an useless piece of plastic.

I'm very sleepy now, just waiting for my 3D print to finish. I'll have the first case and I'll go get some components for assembling it tomorrow.

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