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Raspberry Pi 5 Multiscreen Assembly (Patreon)

Published:

2024-02-24 18:31:01

Imported:

2024-02

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Content

Hi hi, wonderful people!

I do love struts and giant bolts, and all electronics work better with giant bolts, right?

Before we get to all the details, let's clarify what this actually is, because you don't need to include a Raspberry Pi in this at all - it's a case and stand assembly for a specific touchscreen (that just happens to be commonly use with the Raspberry Pi):

Screen model: Waveshare 7 Inch HDMI LCD (C), usually labelled "Low Power"

The screen has a regular HDMI connection (and USB for power), and so can be plugged into anything, not just a Raspberry Pi! Here's a picture of what the board actually has printed on it:

We'll get back to screen choices shortly, but first, let's look at what this is!

It doesn't have to be huge and crazy!

While the vertically-oriented screens in the pic above are lots of fun, there's also a single-screen case and stand that is far, far simpler. Just two bolts, the base and a vertical arm to hold the screen up, with a spot to attach a RPi5 if you should so choose.

Of course, you can also run dual screens by just constructing two of those assemblies, which is still vastly simpler than the vertical setup. But fewer bolts and struts also means it's not as cool, so you'll have to live with that compromise :P

Back to choosing a screen...

By far the toughest part of this was actually selecting a screen. The whole point was to have small screens, but they still needed to be a resolution that was actually appealing and useful. However, price is also important, and the choice needed to find a balance between those factors. In terms of brands, Waveshare was an easy choice due to wide global distribution, though there were still an abundance of (often very similar) options!

The 7 inch 1024 x 600 "C" variant has a distinct advantage: it's the low power version of that screen, with specs saying it draws 490mA. The RPi5, when powered with the new 27W power supply, can power up to 1600mA of external devices, so it can thus power two of those displays quite nicely. While I was waiting for that new power supply to arrive I had to power the screens independently.

Note: Don't get this display mixed up with the very similar variant that also has audio ports and control buttons! That one won't fit (unless you chop out the sides of the screen case to make it fit). It'll also draw more power!

One other thing about running two of those screens on the RPi, though - you'll probably need to get different HDMI cables to the ones the displays come with, because they have adaptors to scale down the plug from full size HDMI to Micro HDMI. That's fine for one screen, but the adaptors are chunky and you can't fit both of them at the same time. I just grabbed some generic full-size to Micro HDMI cables and all was well.

Okay, let's talk assembly and parts!

File naming note: All the strut models have M or F in the name, to make it clearer which ones will connect. The M parts have a threaded receiver for the big bolts while the F parts do not. The M and F connecting faces also have interfacing features for holding the struts at a particular angle.

First, the screen case! The front frame is the part that the display actually sits inside. The orientation will be clear if you look for the HDMI and USB ports.

Next, the screen case bracket clips over the rear case panel. Then the rear panel pops onto the front panel, and four bolts ("Bolt - Longer" model) hold it all together. If you just want the screen case without the bracket on the back, you can just use the shorter bolts instead.

Now we have a nice screen assembly ready for attaching some struts. The "Bolt- Huge" model is the big connector bolt that holds the struts together. Shown in the photos is the "Strut F - Case bracket arm" model connecting to the case bracket.

If you're just setting up a single screen, you might just opt for the "Strut F - lower stand arm for single screen" instead.

If you're constructing this like it is in the photos, then two of those assemblies will attach to the vertical three-connector strut at the back, which is "Strut - M - Vertical three connector". From there, there's a specific purpose strut that's intended to hold the dual screen assembly to the base.

I get paranoid with these things, and didn't really like the idea of the highest stress part having to rely on the bolts alone to resist bending, so "Strut F - Lower stand with brace for vertical" has bracing elements to support the vertical strut, and to back up the connection point at the base. That bracing strut does constrain the angles that can be used, but that's also essentially the point of it :)

Then, just bolt the lower strut to the stand base!

Attaching the Raspberry Pi 5 Clamshell Case.

This is where those mysterious non-threaded holes on the underside of the Raspberry Pi 5 Clamshell Case come in! Use those to bolt the case to the struts. You'll notice that the spacing between the outer holes on the longer axis of the case match up to the threaded holes on the vertical strut, so that's the neatest mounting point.

Of course, you can bolt through any of the holes that suit the position you want the case, but the most likely option is mounting it centred on a strut. If you do mount it on a strut that only has a single mounting hole, you might want to bolt some anti-twist plates to the base of the case to keep it from rotating once attached. The M and F struts have different spacing, so there are separate versions of the anti-twist plates for those, as well as versions for the long sides and the short sides of the case.

Did I mention there's a little driver tool? It was useful for me to make such a thing because I dealt with an awful lot of bolts during the design process, but you really don't need to print the tool if you have something you can just use as a makeshift screwdriver instead :)

With the case bolted on, the RPi5 board can be installed as usual, and the cables routed neatly. Oh yeah, there are also some cable routing clips you can bolt onto the struts!