element14 Community
element14 Community
    Register Log In
  • Site
  • Search
  • Log In Register
  • Community Hub
    Community Hub
    • What's New on element14
    • Feedback and Support
    • Benefits of Membership
    • Personal Blogs
    • Members Area
    • Achievement Levels
  • Learn
    Learn
    • Ask an Expert
    • eBooks
    • element14 presents
    • Learning Center
    • Tech Spotlight
    • STEM Academy
    • Webinars, Training and Events
    • Learning Groups
  • Technologies
    Technologies
    • 3D Printing
    • FPGA
    • Industrial Automation
    • Internet of Things
    • Power & Energy
    • Sensors
    • Technology Groups
  • Challenges & Projects
    Challenges & Projects
    • Design Challenges
    • element14 presents Projects
    • Project14
    • Arduino Projects
    • Raspberry Pi Projects
    • Project Groups
  • Products
    Products
    • Arduino
    • Avnet Boards Community
    • Dev Tools
    • Manufacturers
    • Multicomp Pro
    • Product Groups
    • Raspberry Pi
    • RoadTests & Reviews
  • Store
    Store
    • Visit Your Store
    • Choose another store...
      • Europe
      •  Austria (German)
      •  Belgium (Dutch, French)
      •  Bulgaria (Bulgarian)
      •  Czech Republic (Czech)
      •  Denmark (Danish)
      •  Estonia (Estonian)
      •  Finland (Finnish)
      •  France (French)
      •  Germany (German)
      •  Hungary (Hungarian)
      •  Ireland
      •  Israel
      •  Italy (Italian)
      •  Latvia (Latvian)
      •  
      •  Lithuania (Lithuanian)
      •  Netherlands (Dutch)
      •  Norway (Norwegian)
      •  Poland (Polish)
      •  Portugal (Portuguese)
      •  Romania (Romanian)
      •  Russia (Russian)
      •  Slovakia (Slovak)
      •  Slovenia (Slovenian)
      •  Spain (Spanish)
      •  Sweden (Swedish)
      •  Switzerland(German, French)
      •  Turkey (Turkish)
      •  United Kingdom
      • Asia Pacific
      •  Australia
      •  China
      •  Hong Kong
      •  India
      •  Korea (Korean)
      •  Malaysia
      •  New Zealand
      •  Philippines
      •  Singapore
      •  Taiwan
      •  Thailand (Thai)
      • Americas
      •  Brazil (Portuguese)
      •  Canada
      •  Mexico (Spanish)
      •  United States
      Can't find the country/region you're looking for? Visit our export site or find a local distributor.
  • Translate
  • Profile
  • Settings
Raspberry Pi
  • Products
  • More
Raspberry Pi
Blog Portable Pi
  • Blog
  • Forum
  • Documents
  • Quiz
  • Events
  • Polls
  • Files
  • Members
  • Mentions
  • Sub-Groups
  • Tags
  • More
  • Cancel
  • New
Join Raspberry Pi to participate - click to join for free!
Featured Articles
Announcing Pi
Technical Specifications
Raspberry Pi FAQs
Win a Pi
GPIO Pinout
Raspberry Pi Wishlist
Comparison Chart
Quiz
  • Share
  • More
  • Cancel
Group Actions
  • Group RSS
  • More
  • Cancel
Engagement
  • Author Author: fustini
  • Date Created: 1 Sep 2012 7:49 PM Date Created
  • Views 1721 views
  • Likes 1 like
  • Comments 5 comments
Related
Recommended
  • rpibeginner
  • raspberry_pi
  • rpi

Portable Pi

fustini
fustini
1 Sep 2012
imageWant to build this project?
View Parts

 

Awhile back, I posted about a cheap composite LCD I bought for the Pi, and last month I picked up a 5000mAh USB battery pack from a daily deal site.  An alternative is the 3,300mAh Digipower battery pack that Adafruit sells and is stocked by Newark element14. I wanted to show off the Pi at a lunch with some colleagues last week, so I decided to throw them all together along with an Adafruit Pi Box to make a portable Pi:

image

My USB battery pack has two USB ports.  The 2.1A port was connected to the Pi's micro USB port while the 1A port was connected to the LCD.  The manual for the LCD stated that it required 6V-20V for DC inupt, but thankfully it works ok at 5V.  Since the DC input was barrel jack, I used Adafruit's Male DC Power adapter - 2.1mm plug to screw terminal block and chopped one end off an old USB cable:

image

Another helpful part from Adafruit is their RCA male-male coupler which removes the need for a seperate RCA cable:

image

To complete the compact setup, I added a wireless mini keyboard from Amazon:

image

I should note that I have noticed some inconsistent behavior with the touchpad where sometimes the mouse pointer will get "stuck" at the bottom of the screen.  However, another person at my hackerspace who ordered his unit from that same Amazon link reported no problems with his.  Thankfully though, the keys on the keyboard have been rock solid for me.

 

The setup is actually useful for using the command line in LXDE with the font size increased in LXTerminal.  It's also a nifty way to play Quake!

image

I ran the hello_triangle OpenGL ES demo program (from /opt/vc/src/hello_pi) continuously with the battery fully charged, and the battery died somewhere between 4 and 5 hours.  I'm planning to do a more exact test in the future to gauge exactly when power runs out.

 

Cheers,

Drew

http://twitter.com/pdp7

 

Product Name*DescriptionSupplier
Raspberry Pi Model B Raspberry Pi model BRaspberry Pi
Buy Now
Rechargeable USB Battery Pack 3300 mAh Li-Ion battery pack with USB outputs and included cablesAdafruit
Buy Now
Pre-programmed 4GB SD card 4GB Class 4 SD card preloaded with Debian 6 LinuxSamsung
Buy Now
Adafruit Pi Box Clear acrylic enclosure for Raspberry PiAdafruit
Buy Now
3.5 Inch TFT LCD Monitor3.5 inch TFT LCD monitor, 6-20v and composite video input.Imported
Mini Wireless USB Keyboard and Trackpad Wireless Mini Keyboard with Trackpad and USB RecieverAdafruit
Buy Now
2.1mm Plug to Screw Terminal Block Male 2.1mm plug to screw terminal block adapterAdafruit
Buy Now
USB A to micro B cable 1 meter USB A male to micro USB B male cablePro Signal
Buy Now
Male to Male RCA CouplerCompact male to male RCA couplerDistributed By MCM
Buy Now

 

*Products and resources listed are listed to help members build their own Pi Projects. They are suggestions and listed for educational purposes. For substitutions of any parts, please post a question asking the original author.

  • Sign in to reply
  • fustini
    fustini over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member

    good to hear that it is working now!

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago

    Hi Drew,

     

    First thank you for posting your portable pi setup. Immidiately after seeing it I bought all of the same components you did. I am having an issue though that I hope you might be able to shed some light on.

     

    The mini-monitor only lights up as solid white when plugged into the pi. I have tested out the RCA cable I am using and I know it is good (I got it to display on an older TV). I have the monitor plugged into the output 2 (1A) on the Vaas Mobile charger. Do you think the monitor is not getting enough power or maybe I spliced the cables poorly? Or even a defective monitor?

     

    Thank you for your input,

     

    Mike

     

    EDIT: I powered it with 7 volts and it worked. My Vaas mobile charger wasn't fully charged. Thats the only reason I could see why it didn't work considering you have the exact same setup and it did.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • fustini
    fustini over 12 years ago in reply to Former Member

    Thanks, I had a solid 4.93V TP1/TP2 when the problem was happening, but I should try it with a powered hub to attempt to rule out power.  I also plan to try with the "0 ohm" Pi from MCM.

     

    UPDATE: Same results with the 0 ohm F1/F2 Pi from MCM.  I will try with a powered hub next.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • Fabryz
    Fabryz over 12 years ago

    Very nice! That's one of the ideas I had in mind to do. image

    Unfortunately I STILL have to wait months before the raspberry will arrive.

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
  • Former Member
    Former Member over 12 years ago

    >sometimes the mouse pointer will get "stuck" at the bottom of the screen.

     

    similar problems reported here:

    http://www.raspberrypi.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=9133&p=147467

    • Cancel
    • Vote Up 0 Vote Down
    • Sign in to reply
    • More
    • Cancel
element14 Community

element14 is the first online community specifically for engineers. Connect with your peers and get expert answers to your questions.

  • Members
  • Learn
  • Technologies
  • Challenges & Projects
  • Products
  • Store
  • About Us
  • Feedback & Support
  • FAQs
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Legal and Copyright Notices
  • Sitemap
  • Cookies

An Avnet Company © 2025 Premier Farnell Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Premier Farnell Ltd, registered in England and Wales (no 00876412), registered office: Farnell House, Forge Lane, Leeds LS12 2NE.

ICP 备案号 10220084.

Follow element14

  • X
  • Facebook
  • linkedin
  • YouTube