#touchscreen

Leather Opera Gloves by Ratio Et Motus

Two years ago, I built my first cyberdeck using a Raspberry Pi 4. It worked… kind of. Functional, yes—but painfully underpowered. It chugged through tasks like an old netbook running on fumes. So, it’s time for a serious upgrade.

If you are not familiar with the term "cyberdeck", it is a custom-built, portable computer inspired by cyberpunk fiction, like William Gibson's Neuromancer, where hackers use compact devices to "jack in" to cyberspace. In the maker community, it's typically a rugged, handheld rig assembled from single-board computers (such as Raspberry Pi), a touchscreen, keyboard, battery, and storage—all packed into a tough case for on-the-go computing, hacking, or survival scenarios.

Anyway, this time, I’m going with the Radxa Rock 5C—a beast powered by the Rockchip RK3588S2 SoC with an octa-core ARM CPU (4x Cortex-A76 at 2.4GHz + 4x Cortex-A55), a Mali-G610 MC4 GPU, and 6 TOPS NPU for AI tasks. Fully loaded with 16GB LPDDR4x RAM, it’s paired with the Radxa 8” Touch Display and backed by a 480GB SSD—a massive leap over my sluggish old Pi 4.

Power’s always a tricky part of portable builds. Since I plan to run this from all sorts of sources—power banks, USB-C chargers, or whatever’s on hand—I needed guaranteed juice. Enter the Mcuzone 5V5A Dual PD Power Supply, which ensures the Rock 5C always gets a clean and steady 5V 5A.

For the case, I wanted something tough but compact. I chose a waterproof hard case, resisting the temptation to go huge and cram in everything possible. Portability won this time. The case I got was 287x220x107mm.

Inside, I’m building the internal frame using high-density PVC foam board—surprisingly sturdy, takes screws well, and easy to shape with just a utility knife. PVC glue makes assembly quick, and a coat of spray paint gives it a clean finish.

I started by assembling the base frame, which will live permanently in the bottom of the case. 

Next came the faceplate—this will hold the display and components up top, screwed securely into the base frame. 

Designing mounts in such limited space feels like solving a 3D puzzle. Every millimeter counts. It might look a bit ad hoc, but I planned each placement carefully to keep wiring short and airflow decent.

Sure, an NVMe SSD would’ve saved space—but I already had a SATA drive from my previous build, and honestly, reusing parts adds character (and saves cash!).

Also, I had to get a longer 20cm FPC cable to connect the touch display to the Rock 5C.

Here’s a quick peek at how it’s shaping up: the components snug in their base frame, powered up, and running beautifully.