Hello all!
Due to the recent statements by Google (as well as their track record the last few years) I've decided I do not want to use Android as a phone operating system anymore. But Apple is just as bad, if not worse. So I've decided to build my own custom device.
I am working on building a phone using a single board computer, right now I'm using the raspberry pi 5. This is still a proof of concept, but I want to share my ideas with others, so like minded individuals can start messing around with this idea in their own homes to further this goal.
You can view more images of the device here, as well as the step by step instructions here (these are still very rough and incomplete) https://github.com/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone OR https://codeberg.org/muhammadmanwar/cheaphone
Right now it just runs raspberry pi OS, with a different desktop look and feel. Everything that normally works in a pi 5 works on this device, additionally I am experimenting with a Mobile Broadband modem, to allow the device to text and call, as well as access internet, like a normal phone off wifi
The total cost is around 200 dollars, not including the 3d printer to make the custom case.
This project is barely off the ground, and I've got a lot to learn before I can stop relying strictly on the raspberry pi 5, my end goal is to custom design SBCs, and release those designs for free alongside the plans for the device, so that interested parties can select their own System on a Chip to use for the device. I need to get into designing boards, I'm interested in trying Stephen Hawes' Lumen PnP (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlkTcxh-9gA) for that phase.
But that's for the future, for now, I'm hoping to get more people interested in the prototype so that I'm not the only one noodling around on this idea. I'd love some feedback, and if anyone was willing to put one together for testing, I would appreciate it greatly!
If you've looked at it, how are you dealing with the battery? Like, on a laptop, Linux exposes the battery under
/sys/class/power_supply/. BAT0, BAT1, etc. And there's a lot of Linux software that understands that, will look for that for battery charge level. But AFAICT from past poking around, there isn't a great way to just provide access to arbitrary power systems to the kernel like that. Like, if you get a bunch of 12V batteries and an inverter or something, even if you have, I don't know, a 1wire voltage sensor and a way to interface that to the computer, there isn't a great way for userspace software to talk to it and expose it via that interface. It doesn't sound like, from a quick search, the Raspberry Pi 5 has some "native" interface to batteries.Correct, and right now the pi doesn't actually get any info about the battery. The battery I'm using has an integrated protection circuit and controlled output, so all of the battery management is currently externally handled. Ideally this will change soon, but there are lots of other things that need to change with the battery. It's not possible to charge the device and have it powered on at the same time, because the battery uses a single USB C connector for both power input and output. And the form factor of the battery is cylindrical, which is also not ideal. Its very much a proof of concept at the moment, I've got plans and ideas, but so far, its basically just a pi 5 with a touch screen, plugged into a power bank, with a fancy case
Ah, gotcha, thanks. I was interested in it earlier for running larger Linux machines off battery systems, and figured that the same problem would probably affect anyone doing a phone. Appreciate the response.