The day the Pandora goes even more open

[EvilDragon]

As promised, it's the Day of the Pandora today!

Why? Well, some guessed it - because the Pandora becomes more open today.

Thanks to the designers Michael Weston (PCB) and Dave Cancilier (Case), the case and full hardware design files and documentation (schematics, gerber, BoM, etc.) have been opened up for non-commercial use.

Whether you want to use it to repair your unit, modify it, create your own 3D printed case or are just interested to find out what's needed to create such a device, that's totally up to you.

Be sure to read the licenses and contact me or the designers directly if you want to use it for commercial purpose.

Download them here:

Pandora Manual
Pandora PCB
LCD Cable
Pandora Case
Pandora Labels

• Pandora 1GHz or Rebirth handheld, incl. AC Adaptor (incl. EU, AU, UK and US plug) and battery
• Official Carry Case
• TV Out Cable
• Replacement battery (2009)
• 2x XStylus
• Fully populated (except for the nubs), but broken PCB, signed by EvilDragon (collectors item)
• Fast 32GB SDHC Class 10 card (EMTEC)

Available at the DragonBox shop, only in June.

Don't worry about the stock - more units are coming this week.

Additionally, we've added cheap batteries from the first batch to the shop. They might have a bit less capacity, but are fully tested and working.

This is a nice preparation for the Pyra, which will also have an opened up case design and schematics available from the very beginning.

Spread the word, let everyone know the difference between your normal commercial device and a community-powered, opened handheld

 

[Trip]

Congrats on reaching that milestone and thanks for the news about Pyra being open from the very beginning.

Looks like I won't need to cry afterall

 

[comradekingu]

Wiki updated. Dont know what to do with the pandora-manual. Is it very different from the quickstart that is on the wiki?

Amazing news. Hoping to replace the case with something that feels and handles a bit differently. And a label with some changes in the naming section.

 

[levi]

Awesome! I'd expected it might be this after MWeston's comment the other week. Finally I can find out where to get replacement shoulder buttons from (although I note in the latest BOM it's labelled as 'looking for alternate with lower force, eg. 100-150g' - is it safe to assume that never happened?)


Those are very attractive prices on the new bundles too. I hope this gets the Pandora out to as many people as possible.


Good news on the Pyra schematics etc. too. It's going to be better than the Pandora in all respects now.

 

[rSl]

w-O-w!


this is soooo coool!


*huge* thanks for opening up the hardware side of the pandora!


and the megapack is awesome too!


thanks again!


love 'ya all!

 

[fusion_power]

Very nice, especialy the case files. I never dealt with .stl files, I guess they are handled different somehow because the vertex count is pretty big. No clue how to manipulate and change vertics that way without going nuts (I do this in Blender, always work with lines,faces, vertics one-for-one) I guess there are better programs out there to change such an complex object. ^^

However,I was able to remove almost 840K (!) vertics that were just double! XD Not a very clean 3D model to be honest, an actual mess.   Again, I have no clue how the original files are handled, could be a different method for 3D printing etc. to get smoth edges out of the vectorized 3D model. maybe there were just so much vertics due the conversion in blender but Blender can read .stl files jsut fine, without converting.

However, still interesting to see all these details (and sharp edges ) of the actual case files.

 

[Fzero]

Good stuff


Nice deals on the Pandora options too.


I'd like to see some Pyra preview tees, to wear with pride and build the hype

 

[rygD]

This is great!  If only I knew what I was doing I could make those little changes to the case (and buttons, and the stylus!) that I really want, and print in different colors/materials.  Thanks to ED and the designers for doing this for us.  It is really appreciated, and I hope that it leads to some cool mods.

 

[Cralex]

Dangit, ED! You're making it very hard for me to save up for the Pyra! I'd go for it if I didn't want the Pyra's power for things like N64 emulation... And if I still have too little saved up for either one.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

Wonder how many cool mods will come as a result of this.  Really awesome!  Thanks Ed!

Just afraid some evil corporations in the East will make and sell Pandora themselves without paying Ed, MWeston and Craig

 

[xiongxioi]

That's one awesome deal, thank you so much for caring. 

 

[mongrol]

Awesome news.  I've pinged this to reddit. Will this help me fix my broken nubs?

 

[mcobit]

Congratulations. That is a great move!


DaveC should also include some contact info in his license. Might be hard to contact him otherwise.

 

[x1212]

Dangit, ED! You're making it very hard for me to save up for the Pyra! I'd go for it if I didn't want the Pyra's power for things like N64 emulation... And if I still have too little saved up for either one.

+1

Thanks to the designers Michael Weston (PCB) and Dave Cancilier (Case), the case and full hardware design files and documentation (schematics, gerber, BoM, etc.) have been opened up for non-commercial use.

Whether you want to use it to repair your unit, modify it, create your own 3D printed case or are just interested to find out what's needed to create such a device, that's totally up to you.

Be sure to read the licenses and contact me or the designers directly if you want to use it for commercial purpose.

You can find all files here.

(feel free to direct-link them on the Wiki or other sites, but please include the licenses there as well)

Spread the word, let everyone know the difference between your normal commercial device and a community-powered, opened handheld

Great! Now we need a detailed Tutorial MakingOf that explains why everything is in the place it is in so we can all levelup our Hardware-dev-skills

And good to see the Pandora just became even more open

 

[RobeeJay]

That is great news, though now I wish I'd waited just another two weeks to order my preorder upgrade. :/

 

[EvilDragon]

 Not a very clean 3D model to be honest, an actual mess.   Again, I have no clue how the original files are handled, could be a different method for 3D printing etc. to get smoth edges out of the vectorized 3D model. maybe there were just so much vertics due the conversion in blender but Blender can read .stl files jsut fine, without converting.

However, still interesting to see all these details (and sharp edges ) of the actual case files.

The .SAT file is the original, the STL is a conversion.

Blender works totally different though, as it uses polygons (which are not used for real case designs)

 

[Pagnamen]

Why do I want to buy one when I already have it!

Amazing initiative ED, it is really cool from the team to open up the sources that way

 

[WizardStan]

Most of the parts as they are are not 3D printable, but it's an incredible start towards something custom. Now if only I actually had an idea...

 

[levi]

DaveC should also include some contact info in his license. Might be hard to contact him otherwise.

There's an email address in the license text, for however long that's valid.

 

[klapse]

I hope some chinese company doesn't take the case design and create a pyra competitor with a new system board. Pretty unlikely is my guess, but still.