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DIY Smartphone

DIY Smartphone using Raspberry Pi A+, Camera, TFT, and Adafruit FONA with custom mobile OS.

Tyler Spadgenske
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Phone raspberry pi python iot 3d printer camera 3d 3d printing sMARTPHONE cellphone tft 2015HackadayPrize HackadayPrize2015 touchsreen
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This project was created on 04/02/2015 and last updated 2 months ago.

Description
Introducing the tyfone: A DIY smartphone anyone can make. The tyfone uses the Raspberry Pi for processing and has a 3.5in touchscreen. An Adafruit Fona is used to give the tyfone the capability to make calls, send sms messages, and get the time using the built in RTC. It also has a 5mp camera module giving it the power to take HD photos and send them to Dropbox over WiFi. Speaking of Wifi, the tyfone has a USB wifi adapter so it can communicate with the internet along with cellular networks. All this technology is enclosed in a 3D printed case.
Details

Note that in the video TYOS 0.1.0 is used. Many new features have been added since then.

Hardware

The tyfone is made up of a few basic components:

  • The Raspberry Pi
  • The cellular module (FONA)
  • The 3.5in TFT
  • 3D Printed case.

The Raspberry Pi handles all the processing, and connects everything together. The TFT talks to the Raspberry Pi over SPI, and the FONA talks to it over UART. Everything is powered with a 1200mah battery connected to the FONA. The FONA has a charging circuit perfect for use with the phone. Since the battery is only 3.7v, a boost converter is used to boost the voltage to 5v for the Raspberry Pi and TFT. A metal speaker and microphone is connected to the FONA for audio, along with an antenna. The FONA also has a real time clock built in, so the Raspberry Pi can keep time even when off wifi connection. The Raspberry Pi also has a USB Wifi Adapter connected to it giving it internet access. Right now all that it is used for is to upload camera photos to dropbox, but more features will be implemented in the future. The Raspberry Pi camera module is used for pictures and video. Below are some fritzing diagrams on how everything is connected.

The case is made up of two 3D printed parts with the Raspberry Pi, camera, and Fona screwed down inside. You can download the parts from thingiverse.

Software

The tyfone runs software I wrote in python called TYOS. TYOS sends commands to the FONA to get the battery level, time, cellular connection, send/receive calls, and send sms messages.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can the tyfone run Android?

No.

Why can't the tyfone run Android?

The Raspberry Pi is not powerful enough.

If I use the Raspberry Pi 2 can it run Android?

With a lot of coding, maybe. Try it.

How much does the device cost?

Approximately $180 US Dollars.

Can other services besides T-Mobile be used?

Yes. Any network with 2G support and a full size SIM card.

TYOS isn't even a true OS. What's with that?

I wasn't in the mood for writing a completely new OS.

Why is the phone called TYfone and the software TYos?

Creator = Tyler

Project = phone

creator + project = tyfone

Do you plan on upgrading the hardware/software?

There will probably be very few updates to the hardware, but I plan on expanding TYOS and it's capabilities.

Components
  • 1 × Raspberry Pi A+
  • 1 × Adafruit FONA UFL Version
  • 1 × 3.5in PiTFT Assembled
  • 1 × Raspberry Pi Camera 5MP
  • 1 × Powerboost 500 Basic
  • 1 × GSM Antenna
  • 1 × 1W 8ohm Speaker
  • 1 × USB Wifi Adapter
  • 1 × Electret Microphone
  • 1 × 1200mah Lithium Ion Battery

See all components

Project logs

  • TYOS 0.4.9

    2 months ago • 0 comments

    A couple days ago I released TYOS 0.4.9, below is a list and some pictures of the new features. Note that some of the features were actually released in TYOS 0.3.2.

    New Features

    • Error logs. When an error occurs it is stored in tyos/logs/tyos.log
    • Audio config file. Switch your audio mode from built in (1) to external (0) in the config filetyos/configure/audio.conf
    • Added debug mode to framebuffer.
    • More than four apps can be installed. New app list

    • Settings app. Delete SMS messages and toggle on and off the headset for phones without built in speaker and microphone.

    Along with that, over 15 bugs were squashed with some help from Todd Riesz. Thanks Todd!

    How to Update

    1. Remove old TYOS build with sudo rm -rf tyos
    2. Download new edition with wget https://github.com/spadgenske/tyos/archive/0.4.9.zip
    3. Unzip package with unzip 0.4.9
    4. Rename with mv TYOS-0.4.9 tyos

  • TYOS 0.2.4

    4 months ago • 0 comments

    I have been working on TYOS over the past week and have fixed many bugs and added a couple of new features.

    Bugs Fixed:
    • Long distance calling now accepted by call app
    • Apps automatically exit when phone detects incoming call
    • Messages are no longer accidentally considered calls
    • Battery percentage properly extracted
    • Overall cleanup of code
    New Features:
    • New Power app! Instead of instant shutdown when power app is opened, a small menu with options to shutdown, logout, or cancel appears. Logout is great for developers.
    • Reception of sms messages! Before you could only send sms messages, but now receiving them is possible thanks to the redesigned messaging app.
    • Contacts! Incoming messages will now associate names with numbers. Contacts are handled in the /home/pi/tyos/configure/contacts.conf Create the directory and file and then add a line with this format: Name=number
    • Low battery warning! When your phone's battery drops below 30% a warning appears on the main screen.
    • --version tag. Use this when running http://main.py to get your version of TYOS. Automatic update checking coming soon

    TYOS is still under heavy development so check back soon for updates!

View all 2 project logs

Build instructions

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Discussions

eric.kimei wrote 3 months ago • point

wow so gonna add more features like allowing having diferent kinda of apllication

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Mikael Murstam wrote 4 months ago • point

Hello cool project. If your Python program requires X, you should modify the .xsession file in your home directory so that only your app will start when X starts. This way you will have no taskbar and if your python program crashes it will restart automatically. If it does not require X, you shouldn't start X at all in order to save resources. =). 

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gojirasan2 wrote 4 months ago • point

Typhoon is what I think when I see that name.  Nice project.

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Tim Arnold wrote 4 months ago • point

Wow cool ....  how long does the battery last ... with the voltage upgrade for the PI?   can this thing actually make phone calls yet?

Are you sure? [yes] / [no]

Tyler Spadgenske wrote 4 months ago • point

The battery lasts approximately 4 hours. The phone can make and receive calls, send text messages, and take pictures and load them to dropbox.

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R. James wrote 4 months ago • point

Tyler, this Effin Rocks ;)
And uv made TyOS open-access (open source?) 
Good on u fella, I have a multi-boot on my model B. Running Debian, RiscOS (!ChoozeOS R2D2 drive image) and KODI-Xbmc. Ur Python should run fine on a Pi2 (or the development board to make it more compact?)
SO I can have an un-hackable machine, running Only TyOS - they plug into a friends TV and Change Brains to run, just about anything :)
Brilliant. R.James www.uCHOOZE.weebly.com

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