By Nick Parks
At the Raspberry Pi Meetup at MAKE, I found a lot of neat applications for the Raspberry Pi. There was an old time radio, media center, personal computer, and even a video game console. Raspberry Pis are neat because they have so many applications and are open to creative expansion by any user with an idea. For something with all of this functionality, I would expect it to be ridiculously overpriced, but I was happily surprised when I found out that they only cost $35. The problem with only spending $35 means no accessories are included; this is a bummer because a case is would be nice to protect it and keep dust out. After looking at a few cases people made, I came across an N64 game cartridge case. This one is simple to build, surprisingly durable, and just plain cool.
Here are the steps to build your own N64 Raspberry Pi case:
1. Choose a game cartridge
Make sure you don’t pick one that you’ll miss, but also try to get one with a neat graphic. I choose Ready To Rumble Boxing.
2. Remove the screws from the game cartridge
This is probably the trickiest part if you don’t have the exact six prong screwdriver, I used a hex driver with a spanner bit and small needle nose pliers to remove the exterior screws. The interior screws are a standard Phillips, so they come out easily.
3. Make the cut outs for the connections
For this part you can use a variety of tools, I used a saw and a Dremel, it’s a little tricky to get the cuts in the right place. Designing a template will help get a closer approximation of the cutouts, and if you make the cuts on the bottom, it’ll be hard to notice small imperfections. I made a template with dimensions on the bottom, to be cautious I would error slightly oversized. Depending on the exact placement of your Pi, you will have to remove the screw hole and grind down the edges a little to fit in the Pi and access the ports.
4. Put the Raspberry Pi inside the N64 enclosure
If you cut on the bottom, you’ll have to put the Raspberry Pi upside down. I think this is better, because, this will make the ports right side up. To make life easier in the future, I used the Phillips screws from the inside of the case to in place of where I removed the triangle screws since they are the same size.
Now all you have to do is surprise some of your friends and use it for something awesome.
Nick Parks is an engineering intern at MAKE, and he’s studying mechanical engineering at Santa Rosa Junior College. He likes to build and take apart things to make products better or create something new. He enjoys working at MAKE and likes to help other people build projects of their own.
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