Star Trek Next Generation mini desktop monitor v2

Last updated 2025.05.01: 12x12mm button works better for the circuit board, and main button cap presses into it more smoothly. 90 degree micro usb plug makes assembly easier, and monitor sits better on base as a result.

This v2 has some changes from v1:  

• Power is now through a usb-c port on the back (i used a sharpie to color 1 board edge red)

• 1 usb-c port on the back is exposed for keyboard / mouse connections when necessary

• Both base sections are now secured to each other via 3 m3 screws and m3 heat set inserts. If your printer is as inaccurate as mine, m2.5 can be used instead?

This is a rough desktop monitor model based on the one shown in Star Trek: The Next Generation. This is a much smaller model than whatever they built for the show. I wanted to build a shell for my heavily modified MagicMirror pi zero.

You will need to have a good amount of raspberry pi familiarity to get this running the way it is shown in the demo.

Total components used:

• Hyperpixel 4.0" square (touch)

• Raspberry pi zero 1

• TeensyLC

• USB Hub

• 12mm x 12mm Button

• USB Cable for power, or one assembled from a Micro USB breakout + Molex wires listed below

• USB-C female breakouts

• Micro USB 90 degree plug (optional) -make sure you get down (DO) orientation

• 2* m3 12mm countersunk screws, 1* m3 16mm countersunk screw

• 3* m3 heat set inserts (4mm for left/right, can use up to 6mm for center)

• Sequin LED *2 (Optional)

• USB Speaker for its board, Molex Wires and Tiny Speaker (Optional)

• Crepe Tape [1/32"] (optional)

  • OR extra fine tipped acrylic marker 

  • OR clear gorilla glue for notches' detail lines printed in another color. multi-material printers may shine here.

Magic Mirror does not install successfully using default methods for a pi zero 1. I followed the guide given here - https://www.linuxscrew.com/raspberry-pi-magic-mirror

I created the LCARS-ified graphics / theme myself. I have my build mostly uploaded to github.

Early list of instructions for the v1 MagicMirror build are here:
https://codeberg.org/lambtor/PicardDesktopMonitor-MagicMirror

I have managed to get this running on a pi zero 2, but not everything to get it to just boot straight into a kiosk mode. For a pi zero 2:

• Flash an SD card for zero 2 with raspbian desktop. modify the boot/config.txt to add hyperpixel:

  • Add the dtoverlay line to /boot/config.txt: dtoverlay=vc4-kms-dpi-hyperpixel4

• Boot the pi with the SD card and hyperpixel attached and do the standard operating system update stuff. 

• Install v22 of node.js manually - replace "23" with 22 https://github.com/nodesource/distributions?tab=readme-ov-file#installation-instructions . Make sure npm is installed as well. 

• Go through the rest of the magic mirror install steps https://docs.magicmirror.builders/getting-started/installation.html 

• Run the basic version of magic mirror with default trash. This makes sure you have a viable starting point. 

• Copy the unzipped files I've prepped from a flash drive to the main magicMirror directory. Overwrite every file it prompts about. 

• Go into the config file and put in your api keys for weather, etc. 

• Set up autostart https://docs.magicmirror.builders/configuration/autostart.html, THEN add a service for the script for hyperpixel brightness to autorun on boot & change themes on key presses

Square display does not work well with the LCARS style sheet I created, as I had originally designed it for a 4:3 screen aspect ratio. The Screen Frame tab part allows you to see the bottom of the screen when you need it, for things like command prompt, etc.  You should be able to pull my .css file and my index.html from the github, but you'll also want to install the LCARS font.  Swiss911 needs to be installed on the pi zero, so you'll need to be able to do this from a command prompt.  Otherwise, you should be able to unzip this file and just copy its contents to your MagicMirror directory - overwrite whatever you have and retool your config.js from there.

• Copy a new TrueType fonts (*.ttf) font file in the directory /usr/share/fonts (for all users)

Main frame is 1 or 2 pieces, with cutout for SD card. Camera Tray from v1 has been removed, as the benefit wasn't worth the internal space.

hyperpixel : https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/hyperpixel-4-square?variant=30138251444307

pi zero headers: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/gpio-hammer-header?variant=35643241098

Base is 3 pieces - a top section, bottom panel, and a button cap. Button cap sits on top of a button that is wired to a TeensyLC to trigger display on/off by hitting an emulated keyboard "pause" key, and should be printed in PLA. The button itself looks best if you can get a white filament that allows some light to pass through.

The .ino script file provided is meant to allow you to program the TeensyLC so the main button will send keyboard presses to the pi.  The main button prongs should be wired to teensy pin 23 and GND (like it is on the custom circuit board), so the following happens:

• button pressed for < 2 seconds = display off / display on

• button pressed for 2 to 5 seconds = full reload of magic mirror page

• button pressed for > 5 seconds = full shutdown of pi

Sounds are done by SEVERELY hacking a usb speaker I got here:

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B088CSDZQM

I ripped the electronics board out of this enclosure, and made a custom molex cable for it, using the molex wires link mentioned earlier. The sound board is the black square-ish part on the internal guts photos.

I cut the molex wires to the size I wanted, soldered them to the usb hub's ports.

The prong that extends in from the inner ceiling of the display frame should clamp onto a screw used to attach the pi zero to the hyperpixel back. Use m2.5 x 8mm standoffs & m2.5 screws on the lower 2 pi zero screw holes so the board tries to sit evenly against the back of the hyperpixel.

The notches on all parts can be filled in with paint, if you're skilled at that, or you can use white duct tape cut to really thin strips. In the build shown in the pictures, I printed the notchDetailFiller in white TPU 3x and cut strips to glue in the notches. You can otherwise use a 0.5mm acrylic marker for all notch details, AFTER first spraying the parts with acrylic clearcoat. This prevents the marker paint from bleeding into the printed parts' layer lines. I highly recommend using spray acrylic clearcoat on all printed parts to seal the details and protect them from fingerprints.