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ghaberek | 5 years ago

Would a Pi Zero W work for this, or do you need a full-size Pi 4? I would think that with the HDMI dongle doing the hardware MJPEG encoding, a Pi Zero might suffice. It'd be really neat to A) bring the cost down another $30 and B) be able to package everything into a tiny 3D printed case.

discuss

mtlynch|5 years ago

Thanks for reading!

>Would a Pi Zero W work for this, or do you need a full-size Pi 4?

I tested Key Mime Pi (the keyboard-only version) on the Pi Zero W and it worked great. I haven't tested TinyPilot on the Pi Zero W, but I think it will work. The video encoding is happening in the HDMI dongle, so it doesn't hammer resources much. I don't have a USB to microUSB adaptor on hand, but I'll order one now and see if it works.

>be able to package everything into a tiny 3D printed case.

Yeah, that would be neat! One of the biggest issues I have with TinyPilot's setup right now is that it looks kind of like a bunch of random hobbyist parts stuck together. A 3D printed case would be good and wouldn't have the heat issues that Pi 4 has.[0]

[0] https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2019/best-way-keep-your-co...

cricalix|5 years ago

You might also be able to use the "standard" radio kit metal boxes - tap some standoffs, carefully drill some holes for wires etc. Dunno which works out better for the world - ordering a pre-fab metal box that you have to do some work on (or perhaps use https://www.frontpanelexpress.com/ to get a customised enclosure), or printing something from plastic. Might depend on production volume, metal used etc.

trm42|5 years ago

Do you happen to have any idea, whether older RPIs like 1 or 2 could work for this fast enough? Have some of those laying around.

Deathmax|5 years ago

I think you might run into a lack of connectivity on the Pi Zero W. Since the only data USB port has to run in device mode, I would assume you can't connect the HDMI capture device.

Nexxxeh|5 years ago

The immediate issue would be the Pi Zero W only has one usable (micro)USB port, the other port is Power In only. If you run it for OTG, you can't use it for the dongle.

There would be ways around this though, perhaps using a cheap microcontroller for the USB HID stuff.

ghaberek|5 years ago

Yeah I forgot that only one of the USB ports actually does data. I guess you could use a Teensy that interfaces through the GPIO pins and pretends to be the keyboard and mouse.