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Assembling Picade Max (2/4)

2025-01-16 | By Pimoroni

License: See Original Project Raspberry Pi SBC

Courtesy of Pimoroni

Guide by Pimoroni

This tutorial will help you assemble Picade Max. This is a bit of a mammoth ‎guide, so we'll be splitting it into several parts.‎

Part 1

Part 2 <- you are here

Part 3

Part 4‎

Mounting the Raspberry Pi

In this guide, we'll be installing a Raspberry Pi inside our Picade Max. You ‎may have noticed though, that there are a lot of other mounting holes in ‎panel A, so if you want to mount a mini PC or other hardware inside the ‎cabinet instead, that should be possible. Scroll down to Appendix A at the ‎end of this article for some suggestions!‎

We'll be using a Raspberry Pi 5 but you can use another kind of Pi if you want, ‎as long as it's a model that has a 40 pin header. We'll be assuming you're just ‎using a microSD card for storage here - if you want to add a NVMe Base to ‎your Picade Max setup then follow the instructions in the next section.‎

You'll need:‎

  • a Raspberry Pi 5 (ours already has its Active Cooler fitted),‎

  • the booster header

  • Picade Max Power HAT

  • ‎4x 10mm M2.5 standoffs (the medium ones)‎

  • ‎4x 17mm M2.5 standoffs (the longest ones)‎

  • ‎4x 22mm M2.5 screws (the longest ones)‎

  • ‎4x 6mm M2.5 screws (the shortest ones).‎

parts_1

You will find the screws you'll need for this part in bags 4 and 5.‎

bag_2

If you're using an Active Cooler and you've not attached it already, fit it to ‎your Pi 5 now. If you need help with that, check out Raspberry Pi's ‎documentation.‎

We'd also recommend fitting the booster header now, before you fasten the ‎Pi to the cabinet. Push the booster header down onto the Pi's GPIO pins ‎‎(make sure it's correctly lined up and not 'off by one').‎

header_3

Poke the long 22mm M2.5 screws through the holes in the bottom of panel A ‎‎(with the ends pointing upwards). Then add the 10mm standoffs to the screw ‎threads.‎

poke_4

Place your Pi on top of the standoffs, oriented so that the Pi's GPIO pins are ‎next to panel B.‎

place_5

Screw the long 17mm M2.5 standoffs onto the screws poking out of the top ‎of the Pi.‎

screw_6

Add the Picade Max Power HAT to the top of the stack and push it down ‎onto the booster header pins. Make sure the socket header on the HAT is ‎correctly lined up with the pins on the booster header. Then fix it in place with ‎the 6mm M2.5 screws.‎

add_7

Your Pi should now be safely secured to the cabinet.‎

Mounting the Raspberry Pi (with NVMe Base)‎

Here's how to incorporate an NVMe Base into your setup!‎

‎(Note that Picade Max will only work with the single NVMe Base, not NVMe ‎Base Duo).‎

You'll need:‎

  • a Raspberry Pi 5 (ours already has its Active Cooler fitted),‎

  • An NVMe Base with the standoffs that connect the Pi and Base ‎together removed (you can leave the SSD and ribbon cable in situ)‎

  • the booster header

  • Picade Max Power HAT.‎

  • ‎4x 17mm M2.5 standoffs (the longest ones)‎

  • ‎4x 22mm M2.5 screws (the longest ones)‎

  • ‎4x 6mm M2.5 screws (the shortest ones)‎

  • ‎4x M2.5 nuts‎

  • ‎4x 7mm M2.5 standoffs (these are the ones that come with NVMe ‎Base)‎

parts_8

Fit the active cooler and booster header to your Pi. We'd also suggest ‎installing your SSD in your NVMe Base and connecting up the ribbon cable ‎now, this is easier to do before the Pi is fixed into the cabinet. Full ‎instructions for assembling NVMe Base can be found here, if you need them.‎

fit_9

Poke the long 22mm M2.5 screws through the holes in the bottom of panel A ‎‎(with the ends pointing upwards). Then add the M2.5 nuts to the screw ‎threads.‎

holes_10

Place your NVMe Base on top of the nuts, oriented so that the ribbon cable is ‎pointing towards you.‎

place_11

Screw the 7mm M2.5 standoffs onto the screw threads.‎

standoffs_12

Place your Pi on top of the standoffs, oriented so that the Pi's GPIO pins are ‎next to panel B. Make sure the NVMe Base's PCIe cable is clipped squarely ‎into both connectors, it will be tricky to adjust later.‎

make_13

Screw the long 17mm M2.5 standoffs onto the screws poking out of the top ‎of the Pi.‎

top_14

Add the Picade Max Power HAT to the top of the stack and push it down ‎onto the booster header pins. Make sure the socket header on the HAT is ‎correctly lined up with the pins on the booster header. Then fix it in place with ‎the 6mm M2.5 screws.‎

add_15

Installing the acrylic screen piece

For the next bit, you'll need:‎

  • the long thin wooden panel F

  • the large square acrylic screen piece.‎

installing_16

The tabs on panel F fit into slots on side panels D and E. This piece will act as ‎a brace and keep the console solid, even when faced with serious button ‎mashing. You might need to wiggle the side panels apart slightly to get the ‎tabs into the slots. Note the tab in the middle should be pointing upwards ‎once this piece is fitted.‎

tabs_17

Next, we'll be fitting the acrylic screen panel, this will protect the actual ‎screen once it's installed. It's a good idea to keep the protective backing ‎stuck to the acrylic pieces as long as you can, to protect them from ‎fingerprints, scratches and other miscellaneous assembly detritus. If you ‎want, it's possible to just peel off the protective backing from the tabs that ‎slot into the case here and leave the rest of it in place until later on.‎

next_18

Once you've removed the protective backing from the tabs (or from the entire ‎panel, if you prefer), you can go ahead and fit the tabs into the slots in side ‎panels D and E.‎

backing_19

backing_20

backing_21

Fitting the marquee and the top of the cabinet

Now we'll be adding the marquee to the top of the cabinet. We'll be installing ‎the provided artwork in our Picade, but if you want to be totally extra and ‎upgrade to a Galactic Unicorn LED matrix, scroll down and check out ‎Appendix B. For this step, you'll need:‎

  • A transparent acrylic marquee piece

  • A black translucent acrylic marquee piece (with holes)‎

  • Some marquee sized cardboard artwork

  • Wooden panel G

  • Wooden panel H

  • ‎4x M3 18mm screws (it's time to use some of the long ones!)‎

  • ‎4x M3 nuts‎

fitting_20

As before, remove the acrylic backing from the tabs on the two acrylic pieces ‎on one side.‎

remove_21

Flip both panels over and remove all the backing from the other side.‎

flip_22

Sandwich both panels together, with the completely unpeeled sides on the ‎inside and the artwork in the middle. The coloured side of the artwork should ‎be touching the transparent acrylic.‎

Note that the cardboard tabs on the printed artwork are bigger than the tabs ‎on the acrylic, and the tabs on the acrylic do not line up with each other. This ‎is normal and fine :)‎

sandwich_23

sandwich_24

Fit the tabs into the slots in panels D and E.‎

tabs_25

tabs_26

tabs_26a

Panel G is the top panel of the Picade - slot it in like this (making sure the ‎tabs are pointing out of the back of the cabinet.)‎

tabs_27

panel_29

Panel H sits on top of Panel G - make sure the holes line up! You'll need to ‎slot the long 18mm M3 screws through the holes, to attach both panels to ‎the brackets.‎

panelhpanelhi

panel_31

If you're having difficulty keeping the tabs of the screen and marquee acrylic ‎in their slots whilst you attach the top, you could try laying the cabinet on its ‎side for this part. An extra pair of hands might also be useful for keeping ‎everything in place.‎

Mounting the display panel

Next job is to attach the LCD display panel to the sides of the cabinet. You'll ‎need:‎

  • ‎19" screen panel‎

  • Black cardboard screen surround

  • ‎4 x M3 10mm screws (back to the shorter ones!)‎

Double check that you're using the shorter M3 10mm screws here, if you use ‎the longer ones, it could damage the display. They can be found in bag 6.‎

mounting_32

First peel off the protective covering from the front of the screen.‎

peel_33

Remove the protective covering from the inside of the acrylic screen panel if ‎you've not done that already.‎

remove_34

Find the black cardboard screen surround and insert the four tabs alongside ‎the ones that the acrylic screen panel goes into.‎

find_35

find_36

find_37

We'll be attaching the display to the cabinet next. We found it easier to have ‎the cabinet laying on its side for this part.‎

attaching_38

The display needs to be mounted with the ribbon connector at the top. ‎Observe the four screw holes in the sides of the display, these are where ‎we'll be attaching it to the side panels.

display_39

Position the display behind the Perspex screen panel and line up the screw ‎holes. Getting someone else to hold the display in place might be helpful here.

position_40

Screw M3 10mm screws through panels D and E into all four mounting holes ‎to secure the display in place.‎

screw_41

screw_42

Once you've fastened all the screws, it should look something like this.

fasten_43

Part 2 is complete - you're more than halfway there! Have a rest and treat ‎yourself to something nice. When you're ready, proceed to part 3.‎

Appendix A - Adding a mini PC

We've added a bunch of extra mounting holes to the base of Picade Max in ‎case you want to install mini-PCs and other hardware in your Picade Max ‎cabinet, instead of a Raspberry Pi. Here are some photos of some ‎configurations that we tried.‎

appendix_44

appendix_45

appendix_46

appendix_47

appendix_48

appendix_49

appendix_50

Appendix B - Unicorn Marquee

If you want to use a Galactic Unicorn as your marquee here's what you'll need:‎

  • The black translucent acrylic marquee piece (with holes)‎

  • A Galactic Unicorn

  • A Diffuser Standoff Set containing tiny M2 nuts, screws, and standoffs.‎

appendixB_51

Remove the protective plastic from both sides of the acrylic diffuser piece.‎

Poke the screws through the holes in the diffuser, and then screw the ‎standoffs onto the back of the acrylic. Don't tighten them too much as you ‎could crack the acrylic - just finger tight is fine.‎

screws_52

Flip it over so that the standoffs / screw threads are pointing upwards. When ‎looking at the assembly from the back, the mounting tabs should be further ‎apart on the left-hand edge.‎

flip_53

You can then poke the ends of screws through the mounting holes in your ‎Unicorn board.‎

poke_54

Secure everything in place by adding the nuts to the back of the board.‎

secure_55

secure_56

Fit the tabs on the diffuser panel into the front slots in panels D and E. Note ‎that the clear transparent acrylic marquee piece won't be used if you're ‎installing a Unicorn this way.‎

fit_57

fit_58

fit_59

Appendix C - Unicorn Marquee with Clear Acrylic Overlay

If you just want to add a diffuser in front of the LEDs (like we did in Appendix ‎B), you don't need to use the clear acrylic piece. However, the slots in the ‎cabinet panels will accommodate both acrylic layers so it is now possible to ‎mount the transparent piece in front of the diffuser if you want. This might be ‎handy if you want to do something like mounting artwork or a vinyl overlay in ‎front of the LEDs, or if you just want your diffuser to be shiny instead of matt.‎

If you want to go down this route here's what you'll need:‎

  • The black translucent acrylic marquee piece (with holes)‎

  • A Galactic Unicorn

  • A Diffuser Standoff Set containing tiny M2 nuts, screws, and standoffs.‎

  • The clear acrylic marquee piece

appendixc_60

Unpeel the protective layer from the tabs of the clear acrylic piece.‎

Fasten your Unicorn to the translucent black diffuser piece using the screws, ‎standoffs and nuts as described in Appendix B. Note that as we're planning ‎on fitting this piece into the back slots in the cabinet, we'll using the ‎translucent black piece the other way round, with the widely spaced tabs on ‎the right (when looking at the assembly from the back).‎

back_61

Unpeel the protective coating from the back of the clear acrylic piece (that's ‎the side that's facing you if you've got the more closely spaced tabs on the ‎right). Place the Unicorn + diffuser assembly on top of this piece - the tabs on ‎the two pieces of acrylic should be offset.‎

unpeel_62

Fit the tabs on this assembly into the slots in panels D and E. It will use the ‎front and back slots.‎

slots_62

slots_63

slots_64

slots_65

Here's what it looks like from the back!‎

back_66

That's all folks!

制造商零件编号 PIM708
PICADE MAX
Pimoroni Ltd
制造商零件编号 SC1112
SBC 2.4GHZ 4 CORE 8GB RAM
Raspberry Pi
制造商零件编号 SC1153
27W USB-C PSU UL(US), WHITE
Raspberry Pi
制造商零件编号 SC1148
ACTIVE COOLER
Raspberry Pi
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