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My #cyberdeck Mk1: barely a functional prototype. It's enough to support my hardware hacking. Right now, it has a 1ft 40-pin female-to-female cable to support breadboarding. This way, I can code, prototype, and then upload to microcontrollers all from the same small package.

Later, to make it prettier and more functional. Considering integrating the breadboard into the deck with a plugged-in 40-pin labeled breakout to make my prototyping even easier.

All to make my hardware hacking a little more pleasurable.

And, hey, it can even play h264 (but not h265) well. I imagine freaking TSA out with my kit ashes computer some day.

in reply to silverwizard

@silverwizard The chef is often the hardest judge, I suppose. 😉

As I was telling my wife earlier, functional is pretty. But I can make it even more functional.

And then I can also add a RP2040 or ESP32 controlling the power with a switch like this. 😂

in reply to Evan Light

@Evan Light (looking for work) I am currently experimenting with some cyberdeck builds, so I'm definitely the target audience.

And yes, covered switches are very good! Do it!

in reply to silverwizard

@silverwizard #3dprinting is where it's at. I'm now a HUUUGE fan of #openscad It lets me write code to describe the physical characteristics I want. For someone like me, who despises learning complicated new tools, learning a new programming language and using it to create objects that can be printed is so wonderful!

Props to @rasterweb for turning me on to #openscad. Such an amazing tool. The open source libraries make it even better.

Caveat: #openscad doesn't seem to support semantic completion for functions defined in OSS libraries. 😖

in reply to Evan Light

@silverwizard @rasterweb FYI I've generally used Emacs and the mode it has available. I did a spot-check with VS Code and it also had OpenSCAD support as an option.

Main point, I think, is that I've found #OpenSCAD plays well with external editors.

in reply to Jon A. Cruz

@joncruz @silverwizard @rasterweb Ooooh! But can you still get a preview of your work with a single command? If so, that sounds wonderful! I feel silly that I didn't think of this!
in reply to Evan Light

@silverwizard @rasterweb I'm trying to remember (I've been mainly playing with #FreeCAD and #GodotEngine the last many months). Might be just ctrl-x ctrl-s alt-tab for me (save then switch apps). Might not even have to hit F5 to refresh the view.
in reply to Jon A. Cruz

@joncruz @silverwizard @rasterweb FreeCAD 😅 makes me stabby. CAD tools in general make me stabby. It's exactly why I was thrilled to find OpenSCAD.
in reply to Evan Light

@joncruz @silverwizard I believe you can set OpenSCAD to reload and preview the file when it changes on disk so that external editors work just fine.
in reply to Beko Pharm (deprecated)

@bekopharm @silverwizard Fuck yeah.

You, sir, also get credit for inspiring me to extend my maker habit from printing to electronics and merging them together!

Also led me to building Home Assistant-alerting PIR motion sensors attached to Picos that I have wired up over mouse traps to notify me when I've caught a mouse. Trap-n-release no-kill makes me happy.

in reply to Evan Light

@silverwizard awww 🥰

And that mouse trap sounds like a great idea. I've plenty of mice in the basement and really have to do something about this 🤔

in reply to Beko Pharm (deprecated)

@bekopharm @silverwizard Glad to share my (somewhat awful) code and STL for the PIR mount. I used the cheapest PIR sensor I could get from AdaFruit. My STL may not help much as you'll likely want a EUR supplier. But I can also share the SCAD file so that you can parameterize the mount.

I just double-sided tape it on top of a mouse trap with a transparent top, just above the bait (peanut butter).

in reply to Evan Light

@bekopharm @silverwizard My plan has been to OSS the whole bloody thing anyway. I may yet productize it. Debating filing a patent even though there's a good chance it'll get denied as too similar to existing patents.