If you’re going to build a retro gaming device, why not do it with a little style? The TurtlePi starts with a 1989 Konami Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles LCD handheld with a bad board and replaces the internals using a Raspberry Pi Zero W and Adafruit PiTFT screen to build a TMNT-themed handheld like no other! This video is the grand-prize-winning entry in Element14’s “Hack Like Heck” competition. Special thanks to Element14 and all of my friends, family, and subscribers who supported me in the contest!

Music by Anders Enger Jensen, available at http://eox.no

🏄‍♂️ If you enjoy watching these videos and would like to see them more often, please consider becoming a patron https://www.patreon.com/airbornesurfer

☕️ You can also support AirborneSurfer with a one-time donation at https://ko-fi.com/airbornesurfer

📦 You can also support this channel by using my Amazon affiliate link before you shop! http://amzn.to/2vQb2xt

🌐 Get your own domain name and web site for CHEAP with Namecheap! https://goo.gl/ywVr51

🎥 Get better performance out of your YouTube videos with TubeBuddy: https://www.tubebuddy.com/airbornesurfer

📈 Use Morningfa.me to take your YouTube analytics to the next level: https://morningfa.me/invite/cn9hjz86

📽 Production videos Mon @ 9am Pacific (when available)

🚗 Freeway Forum LIVE Thu @ 5pm Pacific (every week)

🛠 Workbench LIVE Streams & Replays Sat @ 12pm Pacific (when available)

🚗 Freeway Forum Replays Sun @ 9am Pacific (every week)

🛎 Be sure to subscribe! https://goo.gl/j3ATwZ

🐦 Mind tricklings https://goo.gl/vfstFm

📷 Pictures of my socks https://goo.gl/KaLBkM

🏄 Behind the scenes https://goo.gl/vsRCC5

🖥 Everything else is at http://airbornesurfer.com

PRODUCTION GEAR:

“A” Camera: Canon EOS 6D http://amzn.to/2y9Tmzm

“B” Camera: Canon EOS T3 http://amzn.to/2xsZuzf

Takstar SGC-598 Microphone http://amzn.to/2kz3r4n

Azden 310LT Wireless Lavalier Microphone http://amzn.to/2xqLHhw

Safstar Softbox Lighting Kit http://amzn.to/2yzjyVD

DGK Color Grading/White Balance Calibration Card http://amzn.to/2kzm7Rl

Parrot Teleprompter http://amzn.to/2xsMrxG

Zoom H1 Audio Recorder http://amzn.to/2xqLqLz

Selens LED Panel Camera Light http://amzn.to/2yzpaiP

Apple MacBook Pro http://amzn.to/2gmmVVp

Edited with Final Cut Pro https://goo.gl/GL8QFc

Tech teardowns, repairs, and reviews; sketches; how-to; games; and lots of other interesting geekery. There’s something new every week! Thanks for watching, and be sure to like, share, and subscribe!

Generally, any product links are affiliate links that offer a commission to support this channel at no extra cost to you. Affiliate commissions do not affect advertised prices, but do go to support this channel and affiliated website, AirborneSurfer.com

TRANSCRIPT:

1
00:00:04,549 –> 00:00:09,590
why don’t we have people send in short
audition videos and put them on the Element

2
00:00:09,590 –> 00:00:14,690
14 community saying hey here’s Who I am
here’s what I do and here’s how I would

3
00:00:14,690 –> 00:00:22,359
approach a raspberry pi affordable okay
and the ten best videos that we oh yeah

4
00:00:22,359 –> 00:00:26,900
what are you doing here we were battling
the shredder and old metal face

5
00:00:26,900 –> 00:00:33,019
destroyed my favorite video game ever I
need your help to fix it well why don’t

6
00:00:33,019 –> 00:00:37,370
you get it Donatello to do it nah he’s
busy working on some project for some

7
00:00:37,370 –> 00:00:42,140
Ben Heck guy whoever that is you think
you can look at it oh yeah this is a

8
00:00:42,140 –> 00:00:51,320
crush a I’ll see what I can do so
apparently Raphael is entrusted me with

9
00:00:51,320 –> 00:00:56,629
this vintage 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles handheld game and well it’s kind

10
00:00:56,629 –> 00:01:01,119
of a one-trick pony though it’s a
rudimentary graphics rudimentary sound

11
00:01:01,119 –> 00:01:08,330
rudimentary gameplay but what if we can
take these design cues and upgrade the

12
00:01:08,330 –> 00:01:14,149
internals we’ll say a Raspberry Pi new
screen etc and we can build something

13
00:01:14,149 –> 00:01:19,939
that celebrates not only a beloved
franchise but retro gaming in general

14
00:01:19,939 –> 00:01:26,299
much the way that the SNES classic or
the NES classic does so here’s my idea

15
00:01:26,299 –> 00:01:37,670
we take said TMNT game which is very
poor part and should be able to fit a

16
00:01:37,670 –> 00:01:47,030
new TFT screen right here we’ll use the
original buttons if I can get some

17
00:01:47,030 –> 00:01:52,939
replacements we use the original buttons
here we use these function buttons we

18
00:01:52,939 –> 00:01:59,659
put a power switch here for the on/off
button and then we’ll just use some tax

19
00:01:59,659 –> 00:02:05,060
switches up underneath we’ll build a new
control set so the screen and a

20
00:02:05,060 –> 00:02:11,840
Raspberry Pi should just fit right here
may have to take much of this out just

21
00:02:11,840 –> 00:02:17,600
to fit everything in but we should be
able to have plenty of room here since

22
00:02:17,600 –> 00:02:21,439
we’re not
gonna use double A’s I should be able to

23
00:02:21,439 –> 00:02:28,280
get a lipo big lipo battery stick it
right in here and use this room for some

24
00:02:28,280 –> 00:02:37,579
extra eternals so this looks like it’s a
very viable project so let me order some

25
00:02:37,579 –> 00:02:43,340
parts and we will start fitting
everything together and see where it

26
00:02:43,340 –> 00:02:52,280
goes so I think my biggest concern here
is the way that the pie and the screen

27
00:02:52,280 –> 00:02:59,150
are gonna fit together inside the case
now of course it looks like they’re

28
00:02:59,150 –> 00:03:03,290
gonna fit so it should be okay but we’ll
know for certain once we get rid of all

29
00:03:03,290 –> 00:03:07,069
this extra plastic here so I’m gonna
mark off all these areas that we’re

30
00:03:07,069 –> 00:03:14,870
gonna cut and then once I have all that
now it’s time to dremel yes I actually I

31
00:03:14,870 –> 00:03:20,209
was afraid of this so the buttons don’t
fit right the screen and they don’t even

32
00:03:20,209 –> 00:03:24,370
line up right so we’re gonna have to
take those

33
00:03:36,780 –> 00:03:44,350
so here are the buttons that we removed
and of course you got a uh can actually

34
00:03:44,350 –> 00:03:47,320
see in here that they just they just
don’t line up right so we’re gonna

35
00:03:47,320 –> 00:03:56,140
actually create a new pad a new
controller to go in here now before we

36
00:03:56,140 –> 00:03:59,020
get building this thing we should
probably at least set up the operating

37
00:03:59,020 –> 00:04:02,830
system on the Raspberry Pi and since
this is a PI based gaming system we’re

38
00:04:02,830 –> 00:04:07,360
gonna use the tried-and-true retro PI so
we’re just gonna jump over to the retro

39
00:04:07,360 –> 00:04:11,620
pie website and grab the image once
that’s finished downloading use an app

40
00:04:11,620 –> 00:04:16,810
like etcher to flash it onto a bootable
SD drive disco now I’ve got to

41
00:04:16,810 –> 00:04:21,520
reconfigure this workstation with the
HDMI monitor the OTG cable and the power

42
00:04:21,520 –> 00:04:27,700
supply in order to set up the Raspberry
Pi for the first boot okay we’ve got a

43
00:04:27,700 –> 00:04:31,780
splash screen this is a good sign so
from here let’s go into the

44
00:04:31,780 –> 00:04:36,330
configuration menu and set up the Wi-Fi

45
00:04:36,630 –> 00:04:42,730
now we need to enable SSH so we’re gonna
go into raspy config then to interface

46
00:04:42,730 –> 00:04:49,150
options SSH and 1/8 now back in the main
retro PI interface I’ll go ahead and

47
00:04:49,150 –> 00:04:53,560
shut down the pi so that I can clear all
the stuff off my workstation now back on

48
00:04:53,560 –> 00:04:58,120
the Mac I’ll just fire around terminal
and ssh into hi now I haven’t changed

49
00:04:58,120 –> 00:05:01,450
the knee of the credentials yet but you
absolutely should do that as soon as

50
00:05:01,450 –> 00:05:08,320
possible now I’m gonna be using a two
fruits 2.2 inch pie TFT hat as the

51
00:05:08,320 –> 00:05:12,730
primary display so I need to enable
support using the script that they were

52
00:05:12,730 –> 00:05:20,320
so good to provide I’ll use option 6 for
the manual configuration and give it a

53
00:05:20,320 –> 00:05:25,990
few minutes for everything to install I
also need to set up a two fruits from

54
00:05:25,990 –> 00:05:29,890
retro game scripts so I can quickly
assign the GPIO breakout pins from the

55
00:05:29,890 –> 00:05:35,330
screen module
we’ll use the hi girls zero settings for

56
00:05:35,330 –> 00:05:42,910
simplicity okay the initial setup is
complete and it’s time to do

57
00:05:44,620 –> 00:05:49,520
okay so I’ve picked up some bakelite
perfboard so I could build a custom

58
00:05:49,520 –> 00:05:54,620
controller without having to roll my own
PCB besides it’s quicker and easier if I

59
00:05:54,620 –> 00:06:00,140
just hand wire everything and I’m gonna
be better able to make adjustments and

60
00:06:00,140 –> 00:06:06,590
changes as necessary if so to start I
just need to lay out my buttons and make

61
00:06:06,590 –> 00:06:10,130
sure I have the correct spacing by using
the front panel of the game then I’ll

62
00:06:10,130 –> 00:06:14,560
press fit my pack switches in the board
and double check the spacing as I go

63
00:06:14,560 –> 00:06:31,600
once everything is lined up right it’s
time to solder

64
00:06:31,600 –> 00:06:35,150
now that all the buttons are soldered
place I’ll go ahead and trim off the

65
00:06:35,150 –> 00:06:39,980
excess bakelite so that the whole board
fits in the case nicely of course this

66
00:06:39,980 –> 00:06:44,090
is why I’m using bakelite instead of
fiberglass because well it’s I can cut

67
00:06:44,090 –> 00:06:47,330
it with scissors I don’t have to get out
the dremel and all the safety equipment

68
00:06:47,330 –> 00:06:51,650
so you know just to make a simple trail
I’m also gonna need to cut out a notch

69
00:06:51,650 –> 00:06:56,690
here to fit this big beefy power button
that I’m gonna install separately now

70
00:06:56,690 –> 00:07:00,490
let’s start working on this screen
assembly

71
00:07:03,590 –> 00:07:09,020
so the PI TFT hat actually comes with a
separate GPIO breakout right here below

72
00:07:09,020 –> 00:07:13,940
the 40 thin connector so that you can
easily attach control wires the cell I’m

73
00:07:13,940 –> 00:07:17,389
going to connect the buttons and I’m
just gonna use a two fruits default

74
00:07:17,389 –> 00:07:25,610
layout for their retro game script to
wire everything for now okay just a

75
00:07:25,610 –> 00:07:29,960
quick orientation check let’s get these
wires soldered to their Horace ponding

76
00:07:29,960 –> 00:07:36,839
buttons

77
00:07:39,690 –> 00:07:47,670
okay now moment of truth it’s time to
solder the pie to the screen module with

78
00:07:47,670 –> 00:07:51,470
all the wires sandwiched in between

79
00:07:57,530 –> 00:08:02,370
now the screen module and the PI are
married I need to ground all these

80
00:08:02,370 –> 00:08:07,560
buttons to a common line so I’ll just
run some ground lines create a couple of

81
00:08:07,560 –> 00:08:13,590
buses and connect all of that to one of
the ground pants on the GPIO now I need

82
00:08:13,590 –> 00:08:18,480
a couple of shoulder buttons and so I’m
going to use these little candy colored

83
00:08:18,480 –> 00:08:24,330
text witches because they’re going to
fit right into the top of these little

84
00:08:24,330 –> 00:08:29,820
shoulders here on the bottom of the case
appropriately enough so I’m going to

85
00:08:29,820 –> 00:08:34,830
need to measure the button cap okay
looks be about 11 millimeters give or

86
00:08:34,830 –> 00:08:45,999
take so now my stepper bit and you get
to chewing through this plastic

87
00:08:56,220 –> 00:09:07,259
looking good so now we need some onboard
audio okay let’s take our USB audio

88
00:09:07,259 –> 00:09:12,120
adapter and and tear off these three and
a half millimeter Jaxx’s we’re not going

89
00:09:12,120 –> 00:09:18,360
to need them instead we’ll just solder
the leads to our speaker directly to the

90
00:09:18,360 –> 00:09:22,920
pads where the headphone jack was it
doesn’t really matter which channel we

91
00:09:22,920 –> 00:09:27,209
use because we’re only going to output
mono sound all these old games did just

92
00:09:27,209 –> 00:09:31,019
fine with mono sound anyway I mean it’s
not like a lot of TVs back in the day

93
00:09:31,019 –> 00:09:36,629
had stereo capabilities anyway
kind of reminds me of the Etta reminds

94
00:09:36,629 –> 00:09:41,730
me of the old game boys you know
dot-matrix with stereo sound but only

95
00:09:41,730 –> 00:09:55,079
one speaker whatever now we should at
least make sure it works now comes the

96
00:09:55,079 –> 00:09:57,660
fun

97
00:09:57,660 –> 00:10:06,810
I need to desolder these wires leading
to the USB plug because well this just

98
00:10:06,810 –> 00:10:11,280
isn’t gonna work
oh yeah and you might want to take note

99
00:10:11,280 –> 00:10:16,590
of where each wire is connected to
logistics anyway with the USB

100
00:10:16,590 –> 00:10:22,530
disconnected I’ll just cut a micro USB
cable that I have lying around and leave

101
00:10:22,530 –> 00:10:28,140
a micro plug and just a few inches worth
of cable strip it down and solder the

102
00:10:28,140 –> 00:10:33,390
individual wires onto the appropriate
pads add a little dab of hot glue to

103
00:10:33,390 –> 00:10:39,840
reinforce the connections and then we’ve
got as a micro USB audio adapter that

104
00:10:39,840 –> 00:10:49,860
should fit just like so now the last
component I have to build before we put

105
00:10:49,860 –> 00:10:53,280
this whole thing together is the power
supply now I’m going to use a two

106
00:10:53,280 –> 00:10:57,810
thousand milliamp power lipo battery to
power the thing with but I’m gonna need

107
00:10:57,810 –> 00:11:02,910
a way to charge it and to distribute
that power so for that I’m gonna use

108
00:11:02,910 –> 00:11:09,720
this a power boost 1000 from Adafruit
it’s actually pretty simple to wire the

109
00:11:09,720 –> 00:11:16,230
battery plugs into this little jack
right here and we just have to run a

110
00:11:16,230 –> 00:11:22,320
couple of wires from these terminals one
goes to a 5 volt pin and the other goes

111
00:11:22,320 –> 00:11:26,490
to the ground pin on the PI I’m also
gonna wire this little clicky button

112
00:11:26,490 –> 00:11:32,820
switch that I have that I’ll use to talk
with power now let’s get these things

113
00:11:32,820 –> 00:11:37,310
soldered up and that’ll be time to put
this bad boy together

114
00:11:39,279 –> 00:11:45,379
so I’ve run into a little bit of a snag
on assembling the speaker that I’m using

115
00:11:45,379 –> 00:11:50,029
is just too big to fit inside the shell
so I’m gonna have to find a smaller

116
00:11:50,029 –> 00:11:55,360
speaker driver to use now fortunately
the fine folks over at Ben Heck show

117
00:11:55,360 –> 00:12:00,500
happened to send me another speaker as
part of the build materials for Ben’s

118
00:12:00,500 –> 00:12:08,149
original bill okay let’s get this bad
boy put together we’re gonna start with

119
00:12:08,149 –> 00:12:14,449
the power boost unit wire that up to the
five volt in and the ground pin on the

120
00:12:14,449 –> 00:12:21,500
Raspberry Pi then we want a route ours
power switch into its appropriate

121
00:12:21,500 –> 00:12:29,209
position all right looking good now we
need to connect the shoulder buttons to

122
00:12:29,209 –> 00:12:34,189
the main controls we’re gonna start by
running ground lines from the ground bus

123
00:12:34,189 –> 00:12:38,029
on the controller out to the shoulder
buttons which I’ve attached to these

124
00:12:38,029 –> 00:12:42,889
small little pieces of perfboard that
I’ve glued into place then we’re going

125
00:12:42,889 –> 00:12:46,689
to connect our signal wires that we
soldered on to the screen module earlier

126
00:12:46,689 –> 00:12:52,100
all right everything’s fitting great now
we just need to add a little hot glue to

127
00:12:52,100 –> 00:12:57,769
hold everything in place and to insulate
our wires okay the last thing we have to

128
00:12:57,769 –> 00:13:02,110
do is Mount our USB audio so we got to
run the cable right around through here

129
00:13:02,110 –> 00:13:07,699
plug it in and cut a little piece of
mounting square we’re gonna tack the

130
00:13:07,699 –> 00:13:15,800
speaker right down on to the battery and
I think we’re actually finished let’s

131
00:13:15,800 –> 00:13:23,430
give it a shot
it works I’ve works it works okay one

132
00:13:23,430 –> 00:13:40,320
more thing I’ve got to do and always got
to sign our work perfect now I just got

133
00:13:40,320 –> 00:13:44,340
to get this back over to Raphael and
we’re good to go okay so the games

134
00:13:44,340 –> 00:13:47,940
intact but I’ve made a few modifications
that I think you’re gonna enjoy let’s

135
00:13:47,940 –> 00:13:57,830
check it out wow this is radical this is
way better than the game I used to play