Friday, 25 March 2016

BlockComPi (A Block of a Computer of a Raspberry Pi phone)

Thought of what to do with your Raspberry Pi? During Mid 2015, I decided to use a Raspberry Pi 2, and mainly some other components to build a Raspberry Pi Phone, mainly because i had an Adafruit FONA 2G that is going to be outdated in 2017. This design is partially based on the PiPhone, because i also conveniently had a PiTFT 2.8 , so I couldn't use this TyPhone Design.

Components needed to build:

  •  Raspberry Pi 2
  •  Raspberry Pi Camera Module
  •  Adafruit PiTFT 2.8 resistive
  •  Adafruit FONA 2G (could use 3G but have to modify the design a bit)
  •  Earphones with Mic
  •  5V boost converter
  •  2000mah or so battery from phone
  •  Buttons,  Female Headers, Diode
  •  Wires and a PCB to connect everything together
  •  White Acrylic Case with PLA filament from 3Doodler to connect the pieces together 
  •  Wooden Back Plate
  •  Black Stylus (Nintendo DS)
  • Buzzer (For Notifications) (connects through expansion port)

Software:

  • Based on Raspbian Jessie
  • Crappily Coded in Python
  • Uses PyGame, with PiTFT Rotated 180
  • garthvh's menu_8button.py is under no license, and has been adapted into PitftGraphicLib.py for easier use with PyGame in my code
  • No Bitmaps or images used
  • Note that virtual keyboard, licensed under the GNU GPL, is included, used, and has not been modified.
  • The Main Menu, Notifcentral.py, has a Notifications  and Service system and an App drawer which layout apps as in App.py
  • Can actually Receive and send Phone Calls and SMS through Notifications and Service System
  • The Apps included are, Phone, Messages (just something that sends Messages), Contacts, Camera, X11 and Tab Mode.
  • The ones coded my me are Phone (just a dialer ), Messages (just something that sends Messages), Contacts (stores contacts in config file
  • The Camera app actually adafruit pi cam software , which is included under BSD license
  • X11 shows the X Server with Matchbox Desktop Environment on PiTFT, while Tab Mode actually shows the full Raspbian Desktop through the main TV Output, HDMI or Composite
What it can do:

  • Modular (Anything Major like the PiTFT, Camera, Pi, FONA etc. can be removed and replaced)(Small components like the buttons can be easily desoldered)
  • Expandable (All unused GPIO can be used through the female header connectors, I2C is also available)(4 Full USB ports)
  • Can be used in other projects (eg. Upcoming Home Automation System)
  • Full power of Command Line and X11 Linux (Programming)
  • Portable use (But battery is not that good and would be best used as a UPS)
  • Can Receive and send Phone Calls and SMS through embedded Earpiece
Why build This: Why not?

Too Lazy to create a setup guide and video.

Code and Pictures here

That's all. Thanks for reading. Have Fun!

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