It's taken more than 2 years but I've finally finished the first versions of the pibox media server and media player.  The cases are stained wood boxes from a hobby store but they provide me with information on how to deal with layout in a 3D printed case.  It also required me to look at acquiring parts such as specialized cables and connectors.  Some of the small breakout boards I used can be combined into custom boards in future versions.

The wiki has a set of pictures with descriptions and there are more picture in the gallery.

The goal of this project has always been to build a complete software system from scratch using off the shelf hardware as much as possible to create a self contained set of devices that networked with each other.  The hardware is all off the shelf and the few breakout boards are open hardware designs.  The software was built from the ground up starting with a custom cross toolchain up through the custom applications and UI.  It's even getting some android apps to go with it (future development).

The only thing that didn't come out as I'd hoped is the projector used in the Media Player.  I was hoping to find a development board for this but all I can find is a “low-cost” pico projector.  And integrating the TI DLP chip is a little beyond my scope at the moment (maybe with time that will change).

But it's a working set of prototypes.  I plan on deploying them this summer on our camping trips.  I used them last year without cases.  This past winter our trailer was broken into and the TV/dvd player was stolen.  So now the Media Server, with a 7″ hdmi monitor, will replace it.  The only thing missing from it is digital tv.  I have a dongle but wasn't able to get omxplayer working with it yet.  That will come with more work this summer.

For now, it's a start.  If you read this and look over the photos then drop me a line and let me know your thoughts.