3D printed "N900" (android with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Time for an update from me again, 1 year ago i started 3D printing and have made quite a lot of things, and being im so much into audio i made speakers and amps to begin with ;).

But i got another android phone (free) and now im thinking about printing my own by using an android phone with battery removed and then a bottom body like the N900, but just with BIG battery and BIG speakers.

I have to do some experiments as keyboard is quite a challange, i want it just as good as the N900 but with more buttons, will be a USB keyboard so no bluetooth connection needed and more buttons then N900

This project will take some time as im developing a 3D printed "car" also and much more

And if anybody has a good android phone candidate, pref one that can have a custom linux system installed or dual boot

My other latest work:
Thingiverse, place where this project will end up also
https://www.thingiverse.com/dr_frost_dk/about
Speakers, sent a set to San Fransisco - Make: Magazine
https://makezine.com/projects/3d-printed-egg-speakers/

Will like my fav community's idea's on this

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

hm...
yeah....
I would like to see such a setup ...esp with the speakers ...on something that can run linux...
perhaps the nexus 5?
UT has come a long long way with containers...and the 5 is the optimum device for it ..
(I have been exploring real time processing via containment in UT lately...)
...librem I believe is what they will be doing next (UT I mean...at least if short term memory loss serves)
your speaker setup would do well on the n900 / nexus 5 ...
once Leste is prime time...as well...
then the future is wide open for audio...
Can't wait...
currently I have been using for portability ...
a headphone / mic adapter for the in / out on my n8x0's and n900's ...
Out to either an 1/8th adapter to amp ...on the couch...or out to headphones at work..
and In from an adapter to a seiko tuner which is In-ed from the pickups in my harps...
So I run gtkgep on my n8x0's / n900's ...with all the real time processor effects it has...
and jam out comfortably on the couch or at work...
(serious real time though...for serious fun...I have to use a serious distro that has more than gtkgep...so I bounced all over looking for a good one...I can't stand the "all your multimedia needs in one place" of ubuntu studio or avlinux....kxstudio is good but fractured in my opinion...So finally stumbled on literally one of the few distros devoted to audio....and only use it now...for real time..IO gnu/linux....excellent distro....but I digress)

So yeah...I hear you frost...sound....good sound is critical...

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

yea with me audio comes first, ill look into the nexus, only real req for phone for best function is camera on the corner edge so when you flip screen up camera is visible, keeping all guts in the phone it-self makes this much easier
battery space in phone can fit various things like usb hub chip so keyboard is working and hopefully charging also so no external charger is needed like my old fast charger for the dual battery cover for the N900, also fit space for 2x3W amp for speakers, this can be made by shorting the jack detect with a switch that also poweres on the amp, then normal operation will be internal speaker of android phone being used, when better audio is needed you activate the amp and jack detect, audio from jack plug also goes into the amp, will see if any filtering/resistors is needed when i get to it to avoid any noise.
Speaker function (calls) is another thing...

The 3D printed Speakers i made are also VERY good, did also use a lot of time and $ to develop them

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

besides the nexus 5, what other phones would the maemo community like to see?

And it should be easy if we put linux on the phone (with everything working) to make a Maemo UI "clone" right?, i really miss the "window switcher" from maemo, have to use android because apps needed for various things, or is there a Maemo UI for android that works the same?

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Maemo Leste is the next iteration in the maemo os line...
they have gotten further with it than any other attempt...and it has perhaps 6 months to a year before it could be daily driver practical..
Been out of the loop for some time eh Frost?

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

yes much out of the loop, last 5+ years have been hell, quite literally, so bad i lost 3 months from my life, meaning i cannot remember anything but was in a "zombie" state, but im back and i want my N900 (or DIY "clone") as a daily driver again.

And now with 3D printing i can help develop hardware, have begun programming again a little, but that's mostly for arduino.

Can you point me to projects like Maemo Leste?

Have a lot in the works and only pretty much been doing stuff the last year only, so i have a lot to catch up on :)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Why not a custom ARM design, start with a beaglebone or rPi to breadboard your design and then send out to China for the board, then hot air down whatever you didn't have them do in Senjen. Otherwish you are forever stuck in driver hell with the nasty production android component environment. Cherry Trail is AMD64 so you can even do some wine compatibility of desktop windows programs for those situations where you need a specific closed app for whatever.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Once it hits the market, I believe a TOHKBD for the Purism Librem 5 would be really nice.

The lack of a hardware keyboard fixed to the device is currently my main reason for not considering it a successor to my N900. And it seems I'm not alone on that. [1]
I don't really care if it would be a slider or a clamshell design. I believe some sort of port replication would be nice too, but that's probably just me dreaming.


[1] https://forums.puri.sm/t/how-about-a...the-phone/1790

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

with what i have on the 3D print Que and the programming time for the car etc, no i want a simple solution to start with, will go on thingiverse when ready, then we can get someone to design a complete board etc for a "clean" N900 clone

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Also looking forward to seeing Librem.
Point with this project is to get as close to N900 as easy as possible, and this time different keyboard layouts are possible, not just the text on keys but key placement for more countries.
Audio is always going to be my thing but as this is 3D printing, different cases can be designed easily, so you can trade audio for BIG battery or some space to fit custom usb hardware or maybe IR ;)

And since this has the possibility to be just android then more can use it if they only need keyboard and better battery life.

Keyboard will still hopefully be USB so no lag or re-connect/power draw problems, and will as with speakers and everything else i make, a lot of time to get the keyboard as good as the N900

Will be focusing on slider to start with, but no problem making a phone mini laptop, but the N900 design is still the best i used so far

I am however looking forward to the upgrade from the N900 with a Bigger keyboard, been looking a GPD WIN 2 but i don' t know if i can fit more then 4 columns on the keyboard

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

I guess I'd be fine with any layout, as long as it has four cursor keys and is remotely qwerty, qwertz or whatever.
The N900 has made me quite humble in that regard.

Just a thought:
Michael Mrozek, the developer of Pandora and Pyra, has invested an almost obsessive amount of effort into getting the keymat for the Pyra right.
The size is about the same as would be required for the Librem 5, but since the Pyra is a clamshell with nubs, I don't think you could just use its keymat. However, maybe getting in touch with Michael would still be useful.

Actually, I do care for NOT running Android (including derivatives) or any of the other mainstream mobile OSes, because I consider none of them to be trustworthy.
I'm hoping to put plain old Debian on a Librem 5 and just add some software that allows for basic phone functions.

That sounds promising!
Do you intend to include a keyboard backlight?

I think 4 rows would be totally fine. I mean, if you look at the N900's keyboard, a 4th row would essentially give you dedicated number keys, which in turn frees up a lot of potential for 2nd and 3rd level assignments.
The rest is more or less fine, at least considering the available size.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

yes to backlight, will take time to develop keyboard, and with 3D printing it cost's very little, just takes time

And again depending on phone used or just make cases for various models, OS is up to user

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

This speaker looks promising:
https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/minia...akers/1176049/
There can be 4x of these easily in the cover, 2x pr side


looking for inputs form the community if you have any tips on other hardware or better speakers

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

heehehee
I can see replacing blown ones allllll the time from turning the sucker up to "11"

personally I liked the n800 speakers...embedded front facing left and right taking up what front space there was...
Better sound delivery than the n810 or n900 out the ends...
(or much of anything else made since the n800 for that matter)

I have always been partial to utilizing as much space for speaker as possible on a device body

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Ill try to get a few N800 speakers to test with, but the one i linked to according to datasheet is much better in both SPL and Watt's, normal phone speakers are under 1W and this is 1.5W with higher SPL at 1W, but will test quite a few just like the battery's, the best sound possible in the "smallest" space, the space dedicated to sound so far is many times bigger then N900

Sound wise yes front facing is better, but then screen has to be slided up and your hands not in the way, so im still considering side blasting, or maybe an internal fillet that directs sound to the front, this way it can be in a different shape then speaker, when i get more time ill start drawing up a prototype :)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

do you remember the pop out direction movable periscope cam on the n800 , Frost?

THAT would be an ingenious design for a speaker system....
(and if pop out would take up too much room inside the device......)
then a rolling cylinder speaker with left right speakers on the top or bottom or sides of the device ...would be pretty innovative ...
could put recessed buttons on it for volume and other qualities...as well...to maximize the space...

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

that is a good idea!, have them pop out of the side or top, you want to view a video or play music only your not using the keyboard, and make a slide switch that operates the speakers movement and same time powers AMP and connects jack-detect so all audio goes through AMP, line out in headphones still possible at the same time if needed....

was also thinking about having them bulge out where the top of the screen is so your hands have a ridge to rest up on

very crude drawing, think rounder corners :p

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

An idea came to my mind and just want to ask. I have understood that it is possible to control the n900 with a computer through the usb cable. Thought that could it be possible to print an outer case for the n900 which would have a raspberrypi sort of computer set up in it. Then you could have a n900 as a phone but would put it on the case to use proper linux with better specs and better keyboard. If the the phone would be pushed in the case fom the side so that the keyboard on the phone is out, then the cases keyboard would be on top of n900 keyboard, the raspberry/whatever battery would be undeneath the display of the phone and the circuit board and stuff scattered around the case. If the phone would rang it would save the work in memory and you could just pull the N900 out and speak and then slide it back to case and continue. Of course this is not in anyway something that would fill peoples dreams but if there would be something like this and no dreams I think it could be one sort of solution.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

good idea....

But why have to pull the n900 out of the case to answer the phone?

you really wouldn't need to...
Not if the "case" also acts as a "dock"...
then one could...in theory...
Just plug into the headphone jack talk set...(works good and are plentiful...)
Or ...
use the nokia bluetooth earpiece ....(I got one...works great..)
Or.....
take said n900 micro usb port ...and once slid in to the "case" connects to the microusb "dock" port...
and from the side of the case where the port is....one could have multiple split usb ports...(
I mean why have a "dock" (or "case" ) and not have port replication as well? Doesn't make a ton of sense...not to go that obvious next step ...

Hence...
one could use any telephony device that could function to answer calls with...up to and including a handheld telephone usb receiver...
(naturally the above use case is specific...and I think a more open Leste ...than maemo5 would be able to make use of peripheral devices more readily ....mind...)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

If i make the base about 3mm thicker then the N900 base, i should be able to fit one of the cells i use for my e-bikes, these a LiPo battery's with only 1C (2C max) and that is for capacity, they do weigh 156g last i checked so it will be a bit heavy, phone has to be 5"+ to fit this but will enable the phone to have 10,000mAh, so usage time should be very good even under very heavy loads, when remembering back to the 3000mAh in the N900 this will be quite an upgrade.

On Speaker "design" im thinking about a release mechanism to let them "flip" out from the sides to be front facing when needed and side facing in normal usage so you can still use the keyboard, after they have been flipped out you have to click them back in, maybe this will change...., you still have to turn them on, this again puts power to 2x3W AMP and shorts jack_detect so all sound is going to amp, else when off the Android phones internal speaker is used - But this might also be subject to change, im always thinking about power efficiency and will have to do more tests on power usage of the amplifier to say if the power hit is very little, will make a hell of an alarm clock with this speaker system :p

EDIT: 1C rating means this battery will handle a 10A load (37W), so high power flashlight and much more is also a possibility, will do 20A for shorter time

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Really dumb idea perhaps,
but instead of moving parts (an OCD phobia)
you might consider keeping speakers anchored
and simply attach an accordion tube to project the sound
in whichever direction ?
Such things would be much easier to fix or replace...


n.b. - I am not an audiophile,
just someone who had a silly idea.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

What printer are you using?

I love the utility of mine(Airwolf3D Prusa variant), but FDM has serious limitations and takes forever. But still it enables a ridiculous amount of DIY prototype designs when you can work around the limitations.
Working around in my case mostly means printing in parts and then using acetone surface prep and ABS/acetone goo glue to then fuse the parts into a complete assembly. I have a guy I have worked with though who uses 3D printed parts, plaster, and low temp melting metal to make injection molds and then for some applications even one off parts are at full strength.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

FDM, made the black and green ones, gold is next for the "car"

I like a challange and this N900 project is quite a small one (besides keyboard will take time)
If needed i can get the keyboard made on resin printer

And time is not important, the 5" version of the egg speakers i make takes over 2 days, and car will take quite some printing time, this N900 case will not take long to print as should be under 50g

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

was thinking about that but would not give the same, unless speakers sound better off-axis ;), for now the flip out is easy to do and will have dual function with sound, but might change when i get to the audio part :)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

If ever you were keen on a project that would net a profit.
(I was thinking about that last night}
I would suggest doing a poll in the Nexus 5 forums (UT, PM, LineageOS, etc etc...)
And find out how many folks would really like to buy an extended back for their nexus 5 so they could put a bigger battery in ...or plural ...batteries in...
The world has a flood of in-use nexus 5's
and EVERYONE has the same issue ...battery drains quick.
Of course many have tackled the issue from the other end of the stick by trying to make the device conserve as best it could....but the problem hasn't gone away...
A larger compartment for battery or batteries...however...would.

Just a thought.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

im a developer at heart so almost all things i make come out free on thingiverse, only a few projects planned for patreon so far but will also be the most expensive to make (3000$+)

When it is ready i can post it on android forums, but for me this is about having a N900 again with higher resolution, more ram, cpu, bigger keyboard = more keys, as good a sound as possible, BIG battery, as stated 10,000mAh is no problem, but again this can be expanded to many phones and various battery sizes, 10,000mAh should be enough for now, and yes it will have some sort of external charger, can be charged from USB but don't know about fast charging (9+V via USB) as USB should go through a HUB for keyboard and whatever else people want.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Just watched a teardown of LG nexus 5 and that is one easy phone to work with, hardware wise, but it's from 2013, do we have any other newer candidates that can be flashed with normal linux or any other maemo spinoff OS etc

EDIT: also bigger phones, would like about 5.5" for the 1 version (slide)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

Moto z
mmm...
the yet to come Librem 5
Allweiners (:D) models
(B)BQ models (:D)
and the aforementioned nexus 5
there may be one or 2 others ...

But the list is thin. (Frankly it is a bigger list than having none...so beggars can't be choosers ..)
and that isn't necessarily a list just for maemo ....but for UT, PM, etc ...as well..
Maemo Leste is aiming to run on a variety of devices...
should check out their page for a better idea and see ...

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

How it is with Oneplus phones? They install kali nethunter on them and I think they have size and other specs and low prizes compared. Don't really understand about these os systems so maybe it doesn't suite for this. Open and closed sources and OSes: I use power button to change between them.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900)
 

The difference between the OS systems?
It is tiny tiny people that run around inside your phone...getting all kinds of stuff for you,,,

you use the power button to change between them?
I astral project....
less hassle.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Just changed the tittle and made this thread about the design and ideas, will make a thread about the build of the phone when i get there, but after testing with my crappy BT keyboard and android phone in landscape mode it was a good experience even with the small rubber button keyboard, always hated the screen keyboard taking up a lot of the screen and having to look at the screen, with the N900 i could write a message without looking at the screen

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

This remind me of the note 4 with the keyboard case https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=95650

I think is good to do this again with the 3d printer.
Do you have any stl files?
I have a 3d printer and would like to try. It would be interesting to think about different slide mechanisms and different qwerty phones designs

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Ryu1
always loved your work man...
and speaking of slide outs...

Why must it be an either / or....
slide out or clamshell?

why not something like that one...god what was it now? a moto or samsung .. I think?
it was a BT keyboard with its own battery...
and it "snapped in place" on the device (landscape mode of course) and so showed the keyboard below the landscape mode.
And when not in use it could be snapped into place and doubled as a screen-covering shell to protect it...with the keyboard facing the screen ...and the back of the keyboard casing taking the scuffs and scrapes and dings instead of the screen.

Genius idea...
Only problem with it was in the weight.
It weighed enough coupled with the weight of the phone... to feel heavy after a while...
That was the only design flaw IMO.
Better designed to relieve some of that weight...
the concept is an option instead of either / or ...

update:
It was a samsung s4 keyboard case
Backlit, wifi, bt, and the phone could be flipped over so the screen was facing inward ...to protect the screen...
a good case and keyboard idea in one...
a universal "fit" model would have been better ...if it was possible...
But designing such would mean one would have to pick a max size phone as a model and make lesser sizes fit inside said maximum sizing.

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SI4AA...4w/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/PooAA...4u/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-gwAA...L4h/s-l500.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/SDcAA...4s/s-l1600.jpg
https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/5scAA...L4o/s-l500.jpg

the weight of the phone if I remember ...was heavier...
It's design issue was balancing that weight out ...
pretty cheap too....well....cheaper I am sure than the TOHKBDXYZ ...
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Backlight-Wi...9L4s:rk:1:pf:0

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Don't have any STL at the moment, still trying to find the best phone for the job, and since the list at Leste is pretty short it it going to be android to start with if nobody have any options, nexus 5 is nice but i really want something with power and size.

Only phones that have been a candidate because of form factor and how they are built is various Sony phones.

There are again some specific "rules" in this project:
* Camera (rear) must not be in the middle (kinda makes it hard to
use if it does not clear base/keyboard
* Would say rear cover should be easy to remove but does not matter.
* Home button should be on the side and not on the back.

I would prefer full linux but can live with android to start with and since i was testing keyboard and mouse on an extra phone, i can live with it so far :)

Also for me funding is not on the table right now to even order one of the phones (also why time....)
This is not going to be ready next week, but will be ready MUCH sooner then most projects i seen

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

I would prefer slide one. Faster to start typing and screen is ready at hand. And I believe wont brake as easily.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

?
What I showed WAS a slide model.
One just pops their phone into the cradle.
it does double duty as a screen protector as well..
If anything happens...it is to the more affordably replaceable slide out keyboard, not to ones phone....
but...ok...a slide out is your preference...
(:confused:)

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

If TOHKBD looked and worked like that, I would not have gotten rid off it.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

the one im making will be with a new back plate for the phone used, this way it can be screwed together with the phone, and moving battery from phone to case makes it easier to work with, even with some other models down the road like a Netbook design, as it will be hard to have it stand up if the phone/screen part is heavy, would like to make a small 5-6" Netbook, but slide first as this is still the best i have used out of all the various phones i have used with a keyboard.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (andriod with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Anyway possible to change the andriod in the header to android? It reminds me of my later boss who used lootoop in his ear instead of bluetooth and asked which phone should he buy: ipod or arnoid? I make typos all the time so no besserwisser comment ment to be.

Re: 3D printed "N900" (android with keyboard like N900) (design thread)
 

Done :), brain fart with that one :p