Generally it’s the ending touches that actually make a private challenge shine. They’ll flip a multitude of wires into one thing that appears like a industrial product. For many people which can be helpful with a soldering iron, these particulars are additionally essentially the most troublesome (and most incessantly uncared for) a part of a challenge. However that isn’t the case for Nick Gillard.
Only in the near past, Gillard created a teeny-tiny Macintosh 128K reproduction referred to as the pico-mac-nano. A great deal of the work had already been accomplished — he made use of the Pico Micro Mac challenge by Matt Evans. The Pico Micro Mac is a whole Macintosh 128K emulator that runs on Raspberry Pi Pico improvement boards, with assist for VGA video and a USB keyboard and mouse.
Is that each one you have received in there? (📷: Nick Gillard)
However a naked improvement board and bundle of wires doesn’t a retro Macintosh make. So Gillard designed a case that appears identical to the unique to accommodate it, however with a twist. For the reason that {hardware} platform is so small, he miniaturized the case to match it.
The {hardware} for the construct consists of a Waveshare RP2040-Zero improvement board, a 2.0-inch 480 x 640-pixel SPI TFT LCD show, and a customized PCB to attach all the pieces collectively. There may be additionally a battery module if you don’t want to make use of a USB cable for energy. These parts have been fitted into the cutest little 3D-printed Macintosh 128K case you’ve ever seen.
Cuteness overload! (📷: Nick Gillard)
Only a few tweaks to the Pico Micro Mac emulator have been wanted to get it working completely for this challenge. First, an SPI interface and body buffer needed to be added to assist the chosen show. Subsequent, Gillard programmed the GPIO pins to provide an applicable 600 Hz sq. wave to simulate the unique pc’s startup sound. Lastly, the event board’s RGB LED was programmed to function the power-on indicator mild.
Supply code, 3D printable recordsdata, and PCB gerbers are freely out there on GitHub for private use. You’ll have to pressure your eyes to make use of the pico-mac-nano, nevertheless it positive would look good sitting in your desk, would not it?