The PiChuk Packs a Raspberry Pi Zero W Mostly-Inside a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk for Wearable Browsing

Pseudonymous maker "tonystark29," hereafter simply Stark, has designed and thoroughly field-tested a handy Raspberry Pi Zero W semi-wearable computer built into a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk controller — and is now planning a more powerful Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W successor to the "PiChuk."

"I made this 3 years ago," Stark writes of the portable, which combines a handheld controller with a wearable display, "and have used it quite frequently for when I go outside for walks. The mouse driver is written in Python. I put a command in /etc/rc.local so it runs at startup."

"My intention was to use it for a reminder-based program that I made for it using SQLite and PyQT," Stark continues. "The text size was scaled up so I could read it clearly. I didn't use it much because it required frequent keyboard use. I used one of those small Rii brand keyboards, but it's a PITA to carry my phone, the PiChuk, and the keyboard all in my pockets. What I actually ended up using it for mostly is browsing Reddit while I'm out for a walk, tethered to my phone's network. Or reading the news in the morning."

The original design uses a Nintendo Wii Nunchuk controller as the primary input, with the Raspberry Pi Zero W mounted using a 3D-printed housing. A 750mAh battery goes through an Adafruit PowerBoost 1000 charger and regulator to feed the Raspberry Pi its required 5V, while a ribbon cable runs through to an off-the-shelf Vufine wearable display via HDMI.

"I tried to get this as compact as possible, but there wasn't nearly enough room to actually fit a [Raspberry] Pi Zero completely in a Wii Nunchuk, not even considering the other parts," Stark explains of the unusual 3D-printed housing. "I modeled the lower body of the Nunchuk to fit all the components in the hand-grip part. I planned to make a cover for the grip portion, but it feels OK to hold already, and I didn't want to add extra bulk."

While the original design has stood up to three years of on-the-go Reddit browsing, though, Stark is now planning its successor. "I think it is finally time for me to design an updated model that uses a [Raspberry] Pi Zero 2 W (If I can even find one)," Stark explains, referring to the significantly more powerful successor to the original Raspberry Pi Zero. "I would also like to make it smaller, more ergonomic, and more durable — [although I] haven't dropped it yet!"

3D print files and source code for the project are available on Thingiverse under a permissive Creative Commons Attribution license; more details can be found on Reddit — where else? — in Stark's update thread.