This DIY Raspberry Pi Laptop Is a Maker’s Dream

There are many reasons makers love Raspberry Pi computers. These little boards have lots of options for expansion and a large ecosystem built up around them that makes them ideal for building projects with. However, if you want to do some hacking on the go, you’ll need to haul some additional hardware around with you, such as a monitor, keyboard, and power supply. This makes these computers best suited for use in your home workshop.

However, as YouTuber Pro maker 101 demonstrated, it’s not very difficult to turn a Raspberry Pi into a portable hacking machine. He built a completely self-contained computer system that can easily be carried around in a backpack for whenever inspiration strikes. It starts up with the turn of a key, after which you can be lighting up LED strips, programming Arduinos, or writing code within minutes wherever you happen to be.

At the core of the build is a Raspberry Pi 4 Model B single-board computer. A DFRobot 7-inch HDMI Display with Capacitive Touchscreen serves as the primary user interface. Sound is handled by a mini amplifier module and a 3W cavity speaker. The included DFRobot Raspberry Pi 4B GPIO Terminal Block HAT makes it easy to connect external hardware and build device prototypes. Power is supplied by a pair of IFR32700 batteries and a LiFePO4 10A 2S battery management system. All of the hardware was installed on a custom PCB.

An enclosure was made for the system using wood panels that were cut with a laser cutter. The panels were super-glued together to create the final form. It certainly cannot compete with a commercial device in terms of polish, but it is perfectly functional.

Would you like to build your own portable hacking platform? Check out the video below to see how you can do exactly that.