Case Sneak Peek

[DaMummy]

what the hell EvilDragon? i thought we decided to get rid of the palm digging corner on the case when opened?

 

[codifies]

I can't actually see any point to having it lock flat (so the keyboard and display are on the same plane) that said the angle could be difficult to get just right, basically it needs to be easy to view when held so you can "type" with two tumbs...

 

[Bosbeetle]

I can't actually see any point to having it lock flat (so the keyboard and display are on the same plane) that said the angle could be difficult to get just right, basically it needs to be easy to view when held so you can "type" with two tumbs...

that's the single position I use my pandora in, I think its most comfortable.

 

[codifies]

I can't actually see any point to having it lock flat (so the keyboard and display are on the same plane) that said the angle could be difficult to get just right, basically it needs to be easy to view when held so you can "type" with two tumbs...

that's the single position I use my pandora in, I think its most comfortable.

I found that position most unusable - obviously its personal taste, but I'd be very surprised if you're in the majority... equally it would be nice if it could do multiple stop positions...

 

[WizardStan]

that's the single position I use my pandora in, I think its most comfortable.

Same here, I used it for hours every day at my old job without issue.

 

[elvissteinjr]

It's weird. I use my Pandora exclusively 180° opened when in my hand, but when it comes to DS/3DS I prefer the first locked position a lot more.

 

[codifies]

I did rather suspect its like marmite is any particular display angle, I wonder if there is an easy and practical way of having either multiple or adjustable stop position/s

 

[Saber]

Well, as mentioned, the case is nigh finished I just received the new case files yesterday.


Here are some pictures straight from FreeCAD for you

Closed unit, you can clearly see the shoulder buttons, all connectors as well as the SD Card Slots and the Stylus.

1.png

2.png

Here's the keyboard part and the lid with the LCD.

3.png

4.png

If you take a closer look at the LCD, you can see that there are two dummy screw slots - that's because part of the display is below that area.

That side will be clipped, whereas the other side will be screwed (same as the lower screw).

We'll have bumpers in there so you can't see that.

This way we can make the frame as small as possible, keep it sturdy with the screws and make sure we don't use too many clips.

Any further changes planned for the empty area on the front side to the right of the SD cards? Some faux venting, an indentation, and/or the name "PYRA"?

what the hell EvilDragon? i thought we decided to get rid of the palm digging corner on the case when opened?

You're holding it wrong. 

 

[levi]

I did rather suspect its like marmite is any particular display angle, I wonder if there is an easy and practical way of having either multiple or adjustable stop position/s

Well there was a Pandora case mod a few years back to modify the display locking angle. I wouldn't say it was easy, but it seemed practical.


I also find the locking angle of my Pandora fine, whereas I hate using my DS with the screen locked to 180 degrees. I don't fully understand this - perhaps it's because it's thicker, or perhaps because when I'm using the keyboard I tilt the whole unit up towards me so my thumbs can reach more comfortably - though that doesn't explain why I don't mind the 180 degree lock when using the gaming controls exclusively.

 

[EvilDragon]

The first picture shows them without the PCB. Really sturdy buttons should be really hard to break.

As you can see with the second picture, the plastic case will also stop the buttons before they can hurt the switches on the PCB.

That should make everything very robust as well.

This starts to look very good and maybe it really works. ^^ I hope this time, the tolerances of the molds will be good enough to make the buttons work better than the ones from the Pandora, which may also be well designed un theory but in practise they often did not fit right (my triggers needed a good bunch of paper inside to work at all).

That never was a problem with the case, but with the buttons used.

The buttons were not 100% accurate as they were surface mounted and thus were in a bit of different position on every PCB.

Since the ones we have use pegs going through the PCB, they are 100% in the same place on each PCB.

One critical point could be the pivot pin, it seems already be improved and supported to withstand the force of 2 buttons. maybe there is some space left on top of the pin to guide it  in some groove for more durability.

That's not needed, with the surrounded plastic, you can't apply enough force to cause issues with the pin.

Also fell free to test if the vertical surface pattern of the upper trigger has good grip, maybe some horizontal "stripes" are better, I don't know. Maybe the upper trigger also needs to be shorter to avoid beeing pressed accidently. This stuff needs more actual testing for sure.

Yes, of course. That's something that can only be tested in real life  

My Pandora hinge is very loose when fully opened full 180°, this needs to be improved on the Pandora. maybe some overall more tension that keeps the hinge open and closed? This way you could use the real hinge stop to fix the lid in 145° or whatever. Could be done by rotating the actual mechanism, somehow like that:

With enough friction the lid would srtay closed and opened, supported by some additional notch/peg lock mechanism, this would solve the old problem without getting in trouble with Nintendo patents.

Well, the lid doesn't open to 180°, it's something like 170° I think. 

You can see the two pegs stopping it on the case with the keyboard.

I hope the sides of the case will be a little bit more rounded to hold it comfortably, the lower body still looks alot like the Pandora brick which caused some pain in my palms. But besides that, it seems to be a very usable case. And with better materials, it should even look better than the one from the Pandora.

 Yes and no.

We'll round it as much as possible, but keep in mind that the keymat is there and you need a certain thickness of the case.

You can only round it up to a certain degree, as space is very little there.

2nd - the hinge, I respectfully would like to disagree. I personally think a friction hinge would be better all around, but I'm aware that there were problems with all the friction style hinges just being too big for the Pyra... Since it will use the same (the EXACT same? the Pandora one, I'd heard started to wear down and not lock into place very well?) hinge as in the Pandora I guess there won't be an 145°ish midway locking point like on nintendo DS, 3DS, etc... ?

What's wearing down on the Pandora isn't really the hinge, it's more the paint to the opposite side of the hinge.

The hinge is only designed to keep it fully opened / closed.

The fraction inbetween was there because Pandoras paint had a certain thickness, and that wears out.

To recreate that fraction without wearing it out as quickly, we're trying to redesign it the way I explained above.

The problem is, there's no real other solution available.

There's only one manufacturer for the hinge we're using, and that one doesn't offer them with multiple locking positions (except to Nintendo).

And all friction hinges I found are about twice to three times as big as we need it. I've spent about 1 month looking for one and talking to manufacturers.

So the only solution is: Keep the one we have so that the unit stays closed and open properly and add fraction with the case design for the middle positions. 

If you take a closer look at the LCD, you can see that there are two dummy screw slots - that's because part of the display is below that area. That side will be clipped, whereas the other side will be screwed (same as the lower screw). We'll have bumpers in there so you can't see that. This way we can make the frame as small as possible, keep it sturdy with the screws and make sure we don't use too many clips.

 I have a bad feeling about this one; its going to be hard to make the sides symmetric, with the different way the tension of clips and screws work, it will also feel different, probably the side w/o screws will feel soft and squaky, the other more firm. Furthermore, these bumpers don;t last very long (they usually fall out after some time). Could the screws that fix the LCD bezel go in from the side (or top) instead?

Why would the material feel different because there will be screws on one side and not at the other?

I've seen tons of battery covers that slide in at one side and are fixed with a screw at the other side.

Also, when using proper bumpers with good glue (3M?), it's very unlikely they fall out (unless you peel them out yourself).

The overall design looks good and catches the eye.

As ImmaculateChimp said, a friction hinge is a must. It is a huge step back to use the Pandora hinge design. It will simply start to wear down! 

Especially for the users (like me) who will use Pyra as a smart phone replacement (It will replace my Note 3 for me)

A huge step back from what?

We never had a solution with a friction hinge. We tried to get one, but it's not possible at that size (maybe it's even to small to be produced).

That's why we're adding fraction ourself.

At least make it to lock at 145° as Fusion_Power said.

 As mentioned above, already done (but not at 145°, as that would not match with a proper holding / viewing angle.

what the hell EvilDragon? i thought we decided to get rid of the palm digging corner on the case when opened?

 I think I mentioned months ago that this won't be reflected in the case design files as it will be done by a rounding tool after the mould has been done

What is the technical reason for having a doublespace there?

? Technical reason?

Also the lowered area where the nubs are, does that do anything?

They do the same as on the Pandora: They add some design to the case.

They weren't there at the beginning, but that looks ugly.

Knurling and negative space on the L/R look a little strange, then again i havent tried it.

The Pandora also has a small blob inwards, so you can actually feel where the button is.

But of course, tweaking needs to be done after they have been tried in real life.

 

[Wrath Of Khan]

So is the d-pad design identical to the pandoras d-pad? The pandoras d-pad is perfect so no need for any changes imo.

 

[fusion_power]

At least make it to lock at 145° as Fusion_Power said.

That was just an example to show the issue. I personaly use the Pandora ONLY fully opened, except I can't see the buttons when I want to write something in the dark. One reason why I'm so happy about an keyboard light.

That's not needed, with the surrounded plastic, you can't apply enough force to cause issues with the pin.

HULK SMASH! 

And all friction hinges I found are about twice to three times as big as we need it. I've spent about 1 month looking for one and talking to manufacturers.

Maybe you just could tinker something together. I can imagine a simple but efficient solution, including a spring mounted O-ring with notches that is conter-pressed against an equal piece with a knob where the notches fit in. One side is fixed with the lid, one with the base at the pivot point. You can include as many notches as fit in the O-ring or wherever you want the lock positions. That's not really complex engineering, it's cheapo and it works for sure. Use metal rings and it wil last forever. 10cent a pice I would say if not much less.

They do the same as on the Pandora: They add some design to the case.


They weren't there at the beginning, but that looks ugly.

And even better, it adds structure to the surface which makes the case more rigid and stiff. Same like the lowered keyboard area with the raised frame around. Should make the case even stronger there.   Imagine the "Panasonic Toughbook" of the gaming Handhelds.  :wub:

 

[Saber]

Spoiler

That front barren portion to the right of the SD slots gives it a starkly unfinished look in contrast with all the busyness of the rest of the device. Guess it's final. Maybe you plan on putting the edition sticker there.

I'm curious also if refinement and reduction of the Pandora Dpad's left direction and right direction travel has happened so they now match the precise travel distance of the directionals über up and down. There's a review from a third party floating around that talks about this very minor issue too so it's not as isolated as I hoped. 

Some may have never noticed it as it's apparent in certain games which only require exact "twitch" action rather than the usual "floatier" left to right movement. In Tutankham for the Atari 2600 and Zelda Link's Awakening DX my Logitech controller's Dpad can handle this without compensating unlike the two distinct Pandora Dpad's I had the pleasure of trying. Hardly a dealbreaker though.

Glad to see the work being done Michael and I hope you get some rest in from time to time.    

 

[Kev2442]

Yay ! We've got it in red !

Oh dear... It's... Beautiful...

This, my friends, is...

The Lady of the Win.

Oh and by the way, ED, did you catch my questions about the prototypes in the last news topic ? (see it here if you didn't : http://boards.openpandora.org/topic/17717-of-cases-and-batteries/page-6#entry373410)

 

[ekianjo]

ED, can you confirm also one very important aspect ? One of the reasons why the Pandora looked "cheap" in a way was that when you closed the lid, it was never perfectly closed (the left side is always slightly more opened than the right side) and this is probably due to the imbalance caused by the hinge. How do you plan to address this issue with the Pyra to ensure it looks better ? 

 

[Neelix]

Yay ! We've got it in red !

Oh dear... It's... Beautiful...

Erm,  I don't think plastic colours have actually been decided yet.  I rather suspect that that red is simply how it is rendered, and does not necessarily represent the colour of the finished item.

- Neelix

 

[Sloggy]

Lookin' good! Any idea of which colors will be available to choose from when this baby finally launches?

 

[bzar]

I think that front right part of the case could use something. Maybe device name in some embossed text on a slightly recessed area or something?

 

[Silent-Hunter]

I think it should be left smooth.

 

[thatgui]

Yes and no.


We'll round it as much as possible, but keep in mind that the keymat is there and you need a certain thickness of the case.


You can only round it up to a certain degree, as space is very little there.

Could the shape of Lids "outer lines" be altered so it matches the contour of the outline of the upper base. My concern is that this gives more room for things to enter the gap between lid and base.

Why would the material feel different because there will be screws on one side and not at the other?


I've seen tons of battery covers that slide in at one side and are fixed with a screw at the other side.


Also, when using proper bumpers with good glue (3M?), it's very unlikely they fall out (unless you peel them out yourself).

I don't care much about asthetics, so I actually like this solution more as this means there is no chance (or at least only little) for me accidently ripping any clips of.

As mentioned above, already done (but not at 145°, as that would not match with a proper holding / viewing angle.

I also belong to the sad bunch, that uses its Pandora with the screen angled at a lower degree then intended... so now I am sad (but understanding)

They do the same as on the Pandora: They add some design to the case.


They weren't there at the beginning, but that looks ugly.

Too bad, would have liked it more ugly if there were less "dirt catchers" on the case.

The Pandora also has a small blob inwards, so you can actually feel where the button is.


But of course, tweaking needs to be done after they have been tried in real life.

Looks like an improvement to me, the old inward blob was never usefull to me as I always "found" the shoulder buttons before even feeling the blob and it provided no real additional grip for fingertips not slipping.

Lookin' good! Any idea of which colors will be available to choose from when this baby finally launches?

I guess you can make the subject singular, I don't think ED will go the extra mile and provide several colors to select from.

I think that front right part of the case could use something. Maybe device name in some embossed text on a slightly recessed area or something?

I big "NoNo" from my side, if you find it too boring, go Bob Ross stile and paint some trees or clouds on it. I like my devices surfaces to have minimal chances for dirt to catch on to - besides this may get tricky as the color of the case will probably be dark, so you would not be seeing much from the devices name anyway.


But speaking of useless features, how about getting geeky and go Amiga(1000) style by integrating the signatures of the project team into the inside of the case ?