‘80s Toy Computer Becomes Beautiful Cyberdeck

The term “cyberdeck” lacks any kind of strict definition and today’s maker community tends to use it as a catchall for any small DIY computer with a novel enclosure or interface. The only true constant is creativity and we love seeing what innovative makers are able to come up with. One popular approach is to repurpose the enclosure from a vintage piece of tech. Redditor Astrozork321 took that route and knocked it out of the park with the ComPi-Tron.

The beautiful enclosure for this project came from a Sears Computron from the ‘80s. That was very purposefully designed to resemble a “real” computer, but it wasn’t. In reality, it was an educational kids’ toy quite similar to the Texas Instruments Speak & Spell. In fact, it shared the same speech synthesis chip. At the time, digital audio was in its infancy and the necessary data storage was a big unsolved problem. It is a bit counterintuitive, but rudimentary speech synthesis was actually an easier challenge to overcome. TI’s affordable TMC0280 speech synthesis chip made toys like the Speak & Spell and Computron feasible.

Despite its appearance, the Computron didn’t actually contain any true computer parts. Astrozork321 really only utilized the shell, which they modified heavily to achieve a classier appearance. Several 3D-printed decorative elements and a lot of paint helped to make the ComPi-Tron look more like a high-end consumer device — though the era is ambiguous.

To keep the costs down, Astrozork321 retrofitted that enclosure with modernish electronic components. The primary component is a Raspberry Pi Zero W single-board computer. It feeds video to the “monitor,” which is an LCD from a backup camera system. The Raspberry Pi outputs HDMI to a converter for that screen’s analog input. The keyboard is a portable Bluetooth model that includes a touchpad, though Astrozork321 plans to replace that with a purpose-built keyboard that better fits the aesthetic. Power for the Raspberry Pi and HDMI converter comes from a 5500mAh battery bank, while the 12V power for the screen has to come from a wall wart for now. Astrozork321 is hoping to find a better solution to make the ComPi-Tron portable.

But, of course, the real appeal of this project is that gorgeous enclosure. We think Astrozork321 made a great choice starting with the Computron and did a fantastic job modifying it.