I have to say that I really do enjoy playing my Nintendo switch That is why one day I thought to myself How awesome would it be to have a device with a similar form factor that can not only play retro games But can also be used as a Windows 10 tablet Sadly though such a device does not exist.
So I had no other choice than to build one by myself It can be powered by USB type-c PD power source, like a power bank comes with a touchscreen to easily control the Windows 10 operating system and also features all important gamepad buttons, which are mandatory for some retro gaming So sit back and enjoy the journey of me creating this device so that you can easily rebuild it at home Let's get started [Intro] This video is sponsored by JLC Pcb which offers cheap but still high quality PCBs Stencils and SMT assembly year for your projects They currently offer $7 coupons for SMT assembly and PCB prices too as always start at $2 So upload your gerber files today and try out their service Let's start off with the heart of the system which is this latte Panda single board computer Now it might not be the cheapest SBC on the markets, but it certainly comes with rather powerful specifications for its size has Windows 10 installs Features lots of ports just like a proper computer and even has a built-in Arduino which we will later use for the game peds To test it's all I had to do was to connect a 5 volt power source Wait for the red LED to turn off and then hold the power button until the red LED starts glowing again But obviously I forgot all about a display for this mini computer For that I got myself this wave share 7-inch HDMI LCD with integrated capacitive touchscreen Its price was once again, not that low But I have to say that its picture quality is pretty good The touchscreen works perfectly and it even comes with an audio power amplifier Which we will later use to add a small speaker to the gaming system so next I use the small and flats HDMI cable to connect the display to the Lattepanda used in micro USB cable to connect the touch port of the display to USB ports of the Lattepanda and Finally used another micro USB cable hooked up to the power only ports which I connected to separate five volt power source But since I later only want to use one five volt power source for the gaming system Which powers both the Lattepanda in the screen.
I cut up both power wires Removed the insulation of the red five volts and black ground wire Grab myself a micro USB break or ports and Soldered four wires to the corresponding five volts or ground peds After then plugging this micro USB breakout in only one power source We can see that the system does work just fine At least until a certain point since the combined current draw of both devices exceeds the current capabilities of our power source and since I light up on to power the system with a power bank Which comes with the same current limit of two amps we might have a serious problem here Thankfully though I got one of those USB type-c PD PCBs laying around Which I presented you in one of my previous videos about USB type-c simply puts by using a USB type-c cable and a compatible USB type-c PD power bank We can get three amps of current instead of just two So I sold out all wires of the system to the circuits powered it up and as you can see this time everything works without any problems and after confirming that all functions of Windows 10 work flawlessly By also watching some of my own videos I went over to the retroarch websites Which is the software that I will be using for the retro gaming aspects Now I will not go into detail here on how to set up the software Because honestly speaking there are already enough videos about that topic But as soon as you're basically done with setting the software up you can use the keyboards to play some retro games Like for example golden axe right here Needless to say though.
We cannot fit the keyboards into our targets form factor Which is why we can also hook up a simple game peds map its entire buttons and use that as an input controller But I really didn't feel like dealing with the gamepad PCB and buttons which is why I had a closer look at the Arduino of the Lattepanda and Realised that it uses the atmega 32u4 which is also used in the Arduino Leonardo Which coincidentally you can also act as a game ped.
so I installed the Arduino joystick librarian and used it to write a bit of codes, which Maps the different pins of the atmega IC to a button of game pads after Then opening the sketch on the Lattepanda selecting the arduino leonardo as a target and uploading it.
It seems like a new game peds got successfully recognized here you can see which pin of the Lattepanda Arduino acts a switch button and After soldering vires to attacked head push button and hooking it up between one of the shown pins and grounds You can see that Windows successfully detects the button push and thus we can use it in the retroarch software The last two components we need for the hardware setup are small speaker and a 3.
5 millimeter audio jack the audio check will later be mounted inside the housing of the game console and wired up to the Lattepanda audio jack Which means it can be used to plug in headphones The speaker will obviously also later be secured inside the housing and Directly up top to the screens audio amplifier through the help of its included connect a wire Its volume can then easily get adjusted through the push buttons mounted on the screens PCB But wait a minute That means those push buttons along with the Lattepanda's power button also needs attacked I push button extension mounted inside the housing and That was the point I started trading a couple of sketches How the game console should look like and where all the mandatory components should be placed? with those blueprints and minds I started creating 3d models of all the important components with the mounting holes in fusion 360 to do that I either had to manually measure the components or use the dimensions I found on the internet and With those models.
I was not only able to figure out the size of the game console but I was also able to create precise mounting holes for all of them and After 50 versions of my design and around 10 hours.
This was the housing.
I was finally happy with So I printed its upper half with black PLA filaments its lower half with white Filaments and all the button caps shoulder pads and holding parts with red filaments As soon as I got all the 3d printed parts I removed their support material did a bit of extra treatment for some sections and started the assembly by grabbing dozens of nine point five millimeter long tactile push buttons and soldering two wires to each of them after that was done I positioned the 3d printed button caps inside the Holes Push the tactile switches into them for which and also later used a bit of hot glue Created a common ground for all the buttons and used a mounting plate and m3 screws in Order to tighten it all to the housing You need to find adjust the distance of the mounting plates until you get a satisfying button push.
I Then repeated this process For the other sides as well as for all the buttons of the screen until our tape and a power button next I hot-glued a tactile push button near each shoulder pads and Double-checked whether they would mechanically work later on Which they did at this point I secured the speaker USB type-c PD PCB and Audio jack inside the housing with a bits of two component adhesive Then I finally secured the latte panda as well as the screen in place with more m3 screws Edit mail had asked to delay tape and Arduino and wired up most of the buttons to its The rest card connected to the screen all the Lattepanda power button, but do not worry if you didn't get all the details because you can find more pictures and information about this project as always in the video description and After wiring up the audio check and speaker.
It was time to solder the Lattepanda microUSB cable to power from which I used another chopped up USB cable to power the screen as You can see there was a lack of space Which also forced me to directly sewed on the data wires of the touch ports to another USB cable? which then got plucked into the latte panda and Just like that.
The electrical wire ring was completed.
which means it was time to close the system up and use more m3 screws to hold the two halves together and As you can see by powering its with the power bank it all still works.
Just fine I hope you enjoyed this projects and maybe I even inspired you to create something similar If so, don't forget to Like share subscribe and hit the notification bell Stay creative and I would see you next time.
