Worklog WiiBoy Micro -- A tiny portable Wii

[VoxelTek]

I've been posting about this on Discord for far too long, so I figured it was finally time for me to make a worklog. (Thanks @SimplyStevii)

This console started out back in August last year, as a rough recreation of the UltraWii Sakura, since I was impatient and didn't want to wait for Yveltal to release v2 so I could make my own.

Initial designs were really rough and blocky, and had very little style.

But then, a couple days in, I realised (or someone mentioned? I can't entirely remember) that it looked somewhat like the GameBoy Micro.

So, I decided to change the design somewhat, and fully commit to a GameBoy Micro-styled Wii.

The initial design was still based around the dimensions of the UltraWii Sakura, and I decided to keep the small form factor. However, I took it a step further, and decided I wanted a really thin portable.

...oh how naive I was.

Turns out, making something really thin also makes it really hard to fit stuff in, something I'm still struggling with a bit.


However, so far, things seem to be going alright. I've almost finished the design for the case, and I feel closer than ever to being able to actually finish this project.

At one point, I really wanted to add melonHD. A part of me still does. However, feature creep has let this spiral out of control far enough, and I think I'd rather have a fairly good portable than a feature-packed but non-existent one.


Couple stats:

Wii Motherboard: Hollywood-2 Wii Mini
Display: 3.5" LCD (thanks @YveltalGriffin) paired with the Direct Drive v1
Battery: 2x 2100mAh LiPos for a total of 4200mAh. ~2 hours of playtime.
Analog Sticks: 2x hall-effect Joycon sticks.
Face Buttons: SKRBAAE010 switches
D-Pad: GameBoy Pocket D-Pad and membrane
Triggers: Custom dual-tact design using microswitches and tact buttons.
Cooling: Entirely custom, uses a combination of copper heat sinks, copper plates, and a thin heat pipe. Airflow provided by a 30x4mm blower fan. Intake on the back, exhaust on the top.
Storage: MicroSD card slot on top
Audio: Scampi, either through 4 speakers (one on front and one on bottom, per channel) or through 3.5mm headphone jack. Analog wheel for volume control. Maybe Bluetooth audio in future?
Power: Thundervolt, paired with custom circuitry
Other additional intended features:

• MX relocation (maybe mxHound, maybe not)
• WiFi relocation (not enough space)
• BT relocation (could be done, but do I want to?)
• WavePhoenix (should be easily doable, but I don't have a Wavebird so...)

What's Left:

• Finishing PCB designs
  • Finishing custom PMS design
  • Finalizing D-Pad and face button PCB
  • Designing PCBs and flexes for other misc boards (GC+ 2.0, etc) (decided against doing this)
• Ordering PCBs
  • Ordering and assembling Thundervolt
  • Ordering and assembling Scampi
• Finalizing case design
  • Double-checking fitments and designs in CAD
• Printing case
  • Test-printing case and fitment
  • Having an actually decent printer print the final case
• Preparing Wii
  • Installing RVLoader on Wii Mini
  • Trimming Wii Mini motherboard

All the support I've received throughout making this project has been incredible. I've never been more determined to see this to completion. Thank you so much everyone for your confidence in me and this project!

 

[Stitches]

I love it

 

[Customledmods]

Damn this looks super clean!

 

[VoxelTek]

I love it

Thanks! All this encouragement has been what's kept me going, otherwise I probably wouldn't have gotten it this far.

Damn this looks super clean!

That's been one of my big goals with this: as clean as possible. I've also been trying to prioritise repairability and repeatability, but the size constraints have unfortunately crippled that goal somewhat. I still hope that I'll be able to revise this slightly after version 1, and open-source the project, so that anyone can potentially make one themselves.

 

[VoxelTek]

So, some good news.

I think I'm finally done with my power board design! It's horrible and I hate it, but I think I'm done.

I've nicknamed it "Stormbreaker", trying to keep with Yveltal's Thor-inspired naming scheme.

Cause I already had enough of a nightmare just making this thing in the first place, not to mention my batteries are fairly low capacity, I decided to just do 5V/5A (actually 3A cause of the BQ chip) charging, no fancy PD stuff. HUGE thanks to @YveltalGriffin for giving me tips along the way, there's no chance I would've been able to make a successful design without his help.


I've also done a couple other smaller PCB designs, for the face buttons, D-Pad, and volume wheel.

For audio, I mentioned earlier that I'm going with @YveltalGriffin's Scampi. I bought a couple blank PCBs from him, and hopefully they should arrive somewhat soon. I'll order the components and populate one or two. (P.S. I made a Digikey list if anyone's interested in building their own Scampi with parts from Digikey)

One design I'm considering is a sort of motherboard that'll hold the DD, GC+2, and some other stuff, and then a flex on the Wii side to connect to all the relevant points. Not sure if I'll go ahead with this, but it's certainly an option I have.


I'm also wondering, should I put anything here? (indicated in red)

I used to have the micro symbol (μ) there, but a couple people said it looked tacky, so I got rid of it. Now, though, I'm wondering if I should decorate the front a bit more. Any suggestions would be heavily appreciated!

I also wanna shove some Easter eggs on the inside of the case, in the form of vector art. I figured out a while ago how to import graphical SVGs into OnShape, and I've had some success making 3D models from 2D vectors in the past.

bonus points if you know where this is from

I'm also in the process of ordering PCBs and components for other designs like the Thundervolt, so things are feeling closer than ever! This is probably the biggest project I've ever worked on, and I want to see it to completion. Thank you all so much for your kind words and support, it means the world to me. I'm not understating when I say I couldn't have done it without you all.

Now, onto the bad news. I'm so sorry, everyone. I had to increase the thickness of the case...by 2mm.

I know it's an unforgivable sin, and I will spend the rest of my life repenting for it. I hope you can look past my transgressions.

The total thickness is now 20mm, making the max outer dimensions 140x80x20mm. Unfortunately, despite 20 being more than 18 (evidence needed), I won't be able to fit 18650s in. Too much thickness is taken up by other components like the D-Pad, face buttons, etc. I might be able to get 800mAh more (bringing the total to 5Ah), but that might be a bit annoying to accomplish. Still, I'll think on it, and I'm open to suggestions and feedback.


And, well, I think that's it! Lemme know your thoughts and suggestions, even if it's just to tell me how much you hate the colour pink.

 

[VoxelTek]

Forgot to update, sorry!

Since my last post, I've ordered my boards and components! Over A$110 for the boards alone, and then another A$110 for components, which doesn't include parts bought from AliExpress, nor any of the tools and resources I have on hand. I also still need to purchase a GC+ 2.0, so that'll add even more to the cost. But yeah, this is expensive. Hopefully worth it though.

While I'm still waiting on my PCBs from JLCPCB, the Scampi boards (thanks @YveltalGriffin!) and Digikey components all arrived, so I've begun assembling Scampi. I absolutely love the pink soldermask, it's beautiful.

(terrible image, I know, sorry)

One change I've also made to Stormbreaker is adding USB-C PD charging. Gunnar pushed for it, and I found that the HUSB238A could just barely fit on the board, so I have it handling PD negotiation.

Unfortunately, that does add another chip that can't be purchased through Mouser or Digikey, but ah well. Hopefully this chip should allow much faster charging, and with lower currents.

I've also started work on the software and firmware side of things. Stormbreaker's firmware is pretty much complete, I think, and I've also modified RVLoader to support it. It's a bit of a bad modification, as I've simply replaced the hard-coded PMS2/lite support for hard-coded Stormbreaker support. At some point, I should modify RVLoader to have a framework, so other PMS boards can be easily added. For now, though, and for my specific project, this should work fine.

Also, after much deliberation, I ended up not getting a flex for the Direct Drive. I'm instead opting to hand-wire it, which will certainly be An Experience. Should end up okay, though. I hope.

This project is so, so close, and I have no idea how to feel. I know I've said it a bunch already, but thank you all so much for your support. I wouldn't have made it to this point without it.

Wish me luck!