dayfour | Channel 9

Laptop Revival Day 4 - Putting it all together

Before I started any work I purchased a push button from a chain electronics shop. I picked the smallest one they had and it cost me $2.69 ($2.93 after taxes). Here is the push button:

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/radioshackpushbutton2320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.jpg http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/radioshackpushbutton1320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.jpg

The very first thing I did for the day was to extend the button and solder the wires. This was relatively easy process that took me about 10 minutes. I used a piece of wire from an old machine that I had in my garage.

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After the button was in place I covered the computer with the backing board and attached it with the M2 x 20 bolts and nuts. This completed my computer assembly.

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I had my display assembly ready from the previous day. All I needed was to attach the display and stack it on top of the computer facing in the right direction. I was going to slide both assemblies together in the frame.

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To expose the button outside the frame I needed to drill a hole on the frame. I had long enough wire to put the button on any side of the frame, but I found that the best place will be to put it on the top. This way the button will not be visible when the frame is on the wall and it will be convenient when I take it down to work on it.

I needed to fabricate a little part to hold the push button.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/pushbuttonpart1320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/pushbuttonpart2320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/mountedpushbutton320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/button2320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG

To complete the button assembly I resued the original laptop power button cap. After carefully removing it from the laptop casing I glued the power button cap to the aluminum frame using the strongest glue I could find in the stores. It was important to pick glue that can hold metal and plastic.

After all this I was ready for the final assembly. I removed the protective plastic from the both sides of the class and put it in the frame.

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I put the paper mat and then I slide in the computer display stack.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/slideinstack320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG

After the stack was in I closed the frame and used the provided with the frame modules metallic springs to hold the cardboard and the computer in place.

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Then I glued the antennas and the speakers and connected a keyboard and a mouse.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/glueantennas1320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/glueantennas2320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/gluespeakers320x240.jpg View Larger Image640x480.JPG

To fix the hanging wires I used duct tape again. Well... what the heck it works great.

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My picture frame was complete. I fired it up and it worked! It was dimmer than the picture frame presented on WinHEC, but nevertheless it was looking really nice.

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After all the work I have done what I had on my table was a computer with a wireless card in a picture frame. If you think about it this provides a lot of flexibility and it can be used to display a lot of things if I had the right software. I will leave the software part for another article. Here I will just mention some of the requirements that I already started to put together about what the software should do. My short requirements list looks like this:

I do not want to have a keyboard or mouse or anything else attached to the device
I would like the device to be in my Windows XP castle or in my domain so I can see it over the network and display my pictures on it securely.
I do not want to have to log-on.
When I plug the picture frame I want it to automatically run the software for displaying the pictures.
When the device is on the network I would like the device to tell all computers on the network that it is available.
I would like the other devices to allow the user to add the picture frame on their machine. It will be good if I could simplify the process to be like connecting a printer to the local machine

Here are some screen shots of the software prototype that was presented on WinHEC. I am curently experimenting and trying to enhance it's functionality to cover the above requirements.

http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/mypictures299x240.jpg View Larger Image http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/mypicturesshow320x240.jpg View Larger Image http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/webservicepictures299x240.jpg View Larger Image http://channel9.msdn.com/wiki/images/upload/Junktoprevival/mixedpicturesshow320x240.jpg View Larger Image

Join me next time for a possible solution. And don’t forget to post pictures of your own picture frame devices!