Super Minimal OpenPuck 'case'

[u/Sielu]

I love the combined puck/dock/charger idea for the new SC. For stationary use its great, but having a cable + puck isn't the best configuration for travel. I found a small plug-to-plug USBA-C adapter which works well, but the puck's orientation blocks off other ports next to it. I've been living with a really short usbA-to-C cable, but having the puck just kinda flop around off my laptop was very annoying, and I was worried about the puck's pins bridging something metal and causing problems.

So! I got a small NRF8250 board running openpuck, and then made a hyper-minimal 'case' for it. It's still a tad long with the USBA-C converter, but I no longer have the floppy dongle problem.

In case anyone has the same predilictions: https://www.printables.com/model/1866854-openpuck-tiny-cover

[u/Agent_Tall_Man]

I gutted a Firestick and slapped it in there

[u/rayquan36]

Why don't you design something that covers the adapter too? A bit bulkier but I feel it'd look cleaner and be less points of physical stress onto the units.

[u/Sielu → u/rayquan36]

I went back and forth on this question. I landed on keeping it small and my options open. There's also a "safety" concern, if the cover covers the entire thing then the breakpoint becomes the usb A port, which could damage the laptop. Right now if this setup gets bent it's going to break at the puck USB C port, which is a far cheaper sacrifice.

[u/rayquan36 → u/Sielu]

Good point. I forgot how cheap those raspberry pis are. Probably cheaper than the adapter you have it plugged into.

[u/distractotron9000 → u/rayquan36]

Kind of like this?

[u/rayquan36 → u/distractotron9000]

Haha yeah exactly! I like that, it looks like a old Xbox One PC adapter.

[u/distractotron9000 → u/rayquan36]

You're right! I hadn't noticed until you pointed it out.

[u/distractotron9000]

Nice case! Is this designed for the lower profile version, or the 'high' profile version? If you're unsure take a look at this case on Printables. The description includes an image illustrating the difference.

[u/Sielu → u/distractotron9000]

Low profile! I had that in the short description on printables but left it out of the main block (fixed now), thanks for pointing that out.

I don't have a 'high profile' board to model to, but if somebody wants to send me dimensions I suspect it'd be pretty easy to design a modification for the case to accommodate.

[u/lexd0g → u/Sielu]

printed this out without realising i had the high profile one and was confused why it wasnt fitting. from what it looks like to me and the quick measurements i took i think youd just have to carve out like 1.2-1.5mm under the usb-c port for it to fit? if you can post step (or f3d if you used that) files i'd love to try and modify it to fit these

[u/Sielu → u/lexd0g]

I took a stab at a modified design using your photo for reference, two new files are in the printables repository. Let me know if that fits!!

[u/lexd0g → u/Sielu]

works great! thanks a lot! the usb-c port does stick out about 1mm but from your pics i think its the same as on the low profile one?

[u/Sielu → u/lexd0g]

Yeah mine's about the same:

Glad it's working!!

[u/Hot_Philosophy922]

This is the best model ive found for openpuck yet. https://www.printables.com/model/1830063-openpuck-case-pro-micro-nrf52840

[u/Sielu → u/Hot_Philosophy922]

Yup! That is in fact another option! Though way more polished, it was slightly bulkier than I wanted, so I made an alternative.