Raspberry Pi makes a line of computers so tiny you can fit them in your pocket. But you probably need to take them out of your pocket, plug them into a power source, and hook up a mouse, keyboard, and display to use them.

The developer behind the Noodle Pi has another idea. He’s launched a Kickstarter campaign for a Raspberry Pi computer kit that fits into your pocket when fully assembled.

The good news is that the kit is pretty cheap: you can reserve one for a pledge of about $35 or more, and units should begin shipping in September (although this is a crowdfunding campaign, so delays are always possible).

The bad news? Your pledge doesn’t actually go toward any of the electronic components. You’ll have to buy those separately.

Here’s a list of things you need to buy:

  1. Raspberry Pi Zero or Raspberry Pi Zero W
  2. Raspberry Pi Camera Module v2
  3. Pi Zero camera cable
  4. Pimonroni HyperPixel Screen
  5. 500mA LiPo battery
  6. Adafruit PowerBoost 1000C
  7. Pimoroni Hammer Header

Once you account for the cost of those components, a fully assembled Noodle Pi will run you about $145. For that price you could just buy a cheap phone.

But then you you wouldn’t get a fully functional desktop computer capable of running GNU/Linux desktop software. The Noodle Pi can work like a tiny tablet or like a desktop since you can still access the USB and HDMI ports once the kit is put together.

It’s a nifty idea… but essentially what you’re paying for is a 3D printed case and instructions for assembling a device using off-the-shelf parts. If you have access to your own 3D printer, you could probably just design your own Noodle Pi-like system.

via Geeky Gadgets

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

7 replies on “Noodle Pi is a DIY pocket computer kit with Raspberry Pi brains (crowdfunding)”

  1. 500mA seems like it wouldn’t be enough battery when driving such a high dpi display.

  2. Sorry, but it’s been done already and in a far better packaged way, Kano anyone?

    1. Hmm, the Kano products are cool (if a little spendy), but their Screen Kit builds something more like a shrunken imac or ipad w/ wireless keyboard than something you could carry in your pocket.

  3. I’d be up for a kit that incorporates a slide out thumb keyboard + mouse. Otherwise, I wouldn’t put myself through the pain of using a desktop OS via a tiny touch screen.

    1. Enlightenment (EFLTizen) has a somewhat capable touch interface option and has a Debian package.

    2. I’d totally be up for a full kit to make a pocketable slider or clamshell Raspberry Pi or any other ARM based board running a Linux desktop.

Comments are closed.