Jay Doscher's New Display Dock PC Design Drops the Arm, In More Ways Than One
Building on an earlier monitor-arm design, the Display Dock switches Doscher's usual Raspberry Pi out for a LattePanda Mu.
Maker Jay Doscher has released his latest 3D-printable computer chassis design, the Display Dock PC — building on his earlier ARM Terminal designs but dropping both the monitor arm and the Arm processor, swapping his usual Arm-powered Raspberry Pi out for an Intel N100-based mini PC.
"While the Raspberry Pi is a capable platform," Doscher explains of his decision to move away from the popular single-board computer range for this build, "the abundant use of cables, hats, and other parts puts it on equal budget to many Intel N100 platforms. Going x86 also has many other smaller benefits, such as enjoying full native support under Linux for a variety of packages, not to mention all the encoder support included in the N100 line."
Designed for installation between a desk and a communications rack in a home lab, the Display Dock is built around a Waveshare 13" AMOLED display — expanded through the use of a cartridge-like connector, to allow the touchscreen display to be easily removed and reused in other builds. "The monitor slides in with a pretty satisfying mini-thud," Doscher explains, "but lacks a nice 'click' because there's no latch hardware on the monitor itself — so I have a retained M4 thumbscrew on the back to keep it from sliding out on its own."
Behind the monitor is a DFRobot LattePanda Mu, an Intel N100-based computer-on-module with 8GB of RAM and 64GB eMMC storage, installed in a LattePanda Mu Lite Carrier Board with a passive heatsink — made considerably less passive through the chassis' integration of an 80mm fan pointing directly at the board.
Most of the build, as with Doscher's earlier projects, is 3D-printable — though a VESA-compatible mounting bracket at the rear is built of steel. "That part was $73 with shipping," Doscher admits, "but that includes all the finishing and the part that showed looks amazing."
The project is documented in full on Doscher's website; paid subscribers receive access to STL files, with CAD files for higher-tier subscribers, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license.