The Division Cyberdeck 2.0 is here!

This is my Tom Clany’s The Division Themed Survival Deck v2.

It is the followup to my first Cyberdeck which I made 4 year ago. For version 2, I placed function over form. It runs off a Mini PC using Windows 11 Pro, powered by an Intel N5105, 8GB RAM, and more than 1TB storage. 

Features include:

• Touchscreen

• Battery with display

• Integrated network hub

• 4 front panel USB connections

• Power-only USB connection

• Audio jack (if you just want to watch a movie on a 7 inch screen).

Software includes:

• Kiwix libraries of the Gutenberg library, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, and Gardening Stack exchange

• WinTAK, complete with Offline Hybrid Satellite/Topographical Maps for the entire U.S. and high resolution Hybrid maps for many major cities.

• The entire library of both PoleShift and Survivor Libraries, as well as some smaller collections of survival literature.

Supports:

• Solar Panel Charging (I highly recommend the foldable ones you can get at Harbor Freight)

• GPS

• A host of other applications and devices that can run on Windows / USB.

Note: This post I am primarily focused on the narrative aspect of the project and it is primarily going to focus on my motivation, thought process, and touch on some iterative problem solving. If you care more about the technical details or cut to the chase and get STLs you can find Thingiverse links, parts lists, and build instructions below:

• The full parts list: Cyberdeck v2 Parts List

• 3D printed parts: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6596483

• The build guide: Cyberdeck v2 Build Guide

Also, check out my YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/@medievalreview

Some Background

In early 2020 I built a Division themed Cyberdeck based on Jay Doscher’s Recovery Deck.

Jay had created his deck in 2019 and I wanted to copy it as closely as I could (I also gleaned information from Evan Meaney, mostly around software), while adding my own spin to it; making mine a “Tom Clancy’s The Division'' theme. It was such an oddly timed project given that I had started it right before a global pandemic.

I was so focused on reproducing Jay’s project that I gave little thought to full functionality. Form over function had been the focus. But it was exactly the kind of project I needed at the time.

I learned a lot in the v1 build process; a better understanding of electrical circuits, soldering, as well as best practices for both, about the existence of marine/boat soldering sleeves and spatulated connectors, the inner working of On-None-On (and other types) of flip switches and USB cables of all types. I also learned more about Raspbian’s inner workings and how to effectively use Blender to modify parts of Jay's designs to fit my own hardware, since I wasn’t going to do everything exactly the same.

I also learned that the end product, while useful, was far from ideal for its “intended” purpose as a survival/recovery deck.  Let’s be real for a second, Unix distros are not as well supported in the software space as we all wish. The one that really got me was the Mapping/GPS options and the lack of any CivTAK variants that I could run on a RaspberryPi. Windows on the other hand always seems to win out on having tons of options for good software. 

Android also has ATAK, and I did briefly do an android related project for that reason; a Thyrm case build.

Phone and solar chargable battery in a Thyrm case.

While building something like a Cyberdeck is fun, it is not without its frustrations, and oh there are some very real frustrations, especially when trying to source specific parts. I cannot count the number of times I would special-order a part like the lock toggle switches, waited weeks for arrival, and then got a part that wasn’t going to quite work for the build because of some little factor I hadn’t considered. Similarly, where a specific kind of part was used by Jay, but said part was nigh impossible to source, (probably because of some global shutdown or something…), and now just a few years later it is impossible to get something like the Planck EZ keyboard.

In the four years since I built the deck I have thought a lot about revisiting the project, but without some of the shackles that copying someone else’s design would bring.

Special Note: I find it interesting that Jay also just recently posted his v2, iterating on the original design, with some similar goals in mind, although he stuck with a Raspberry Pi. Great job, Jay! It looks beautiful.

New Constraints

As I considered what the new version would look like, and thought about how I would avoid as many of the pitfalls as I could. I knew some things couldn’t be avoided altogether, but they could be mitigated.

The family of "The Division" themed decks

I also didn’t really want to build a “Cyberdeck”, which has a lot of varying definitions. The practical definition is “basically a laptop, but more complex”. Which is my way of saying custom building the thing out of found parts and cobbling them together. Instead I wanted to make what I am calling a “Survival Deck” (Jay used the term “Recovery Deck”), but I think we mean the same thing; “Basically a laptop, but custom designed to be encased in a protective enclosure, and support a person in a survival/rebuild situation”.

To get what I wanted out of the project, I developed some goals and ground rules:

1. It must meet and exceed functional parity with v1 - otherwise there is no point

2. It must be buildable with only “off the shelf” parts - sourcing of parts should be reasonable and repeatable. (This does not include a 3d printer)

3. Bonus points if the entire thing can be built off of Amazon.

4. The price point of the build should be comparable. - though I expected it to cost a little more than my v1.

5. It must be more user friendly to use - anyone with a basic knowledge of computers should be able to access and use it.

6. It must be more user friendly to build - no advanced knowledge of soldering, electrical circuits, etc. This last one is important because

The Design and Build

The 3D printed parts are custom designed by me, except for the logo and the remix of Jay’s original front panel and frame. I liked Jay’s layout and design a lot, it was something I didn’t want to change too much, it was essentially a ground up rebuild of the entire model, but it was all iterative changes of the original, so Jay gets the credit there. 

The final, heavily modified, version of Jay's frame design.

There are a total of 11 pieces printed with 4 walls at 15% gyroid infill on a Bambu Lab X1-Carbon, with an AMS (necessary only really for the logo), which fit together with M2, M3, and M5 machine bolts and related heat insets (which is the only use of a soldering iron in the entire build). Smaller parts exist for cosmetic purposes, such as the 3 part power button extension, the washer, and the logo. The rest are a series of brackets that fit together in the build process.

There are some alternative prints based on the exact type of Pelican 1300 case, since they at some point changed the interior moulding which means adjustments need to be made for different fits.

I went through approximately 25 iterations on the design overcoming various challenges, such as finding ideal parts orientation, space constraints of the pelican case, and functional usability of the Deck itself. I am sure that, had I spent more time thinking and less time doing, there could have been less iterations. But, I enjoyed the process of using my 3d printer to do rapid prototyping and solving problems on the fly.

Some of my initial 3d printed prototypes.

The computer components are all sourced from Amazon. Although it can be argued that cheaper options may be available elsewhere, this nearly solved all of my logistical concerns for getting parts expediently. The only real exception was the 40% keyboard which had a bit of a lead time but is a near perfect fit for the Pelican Case. (I did end up doing a little bit of sanding on the keyboard so it could fit a little lower in the lid, but these keyboard don’t looks like they were built with precise tolerances, so mileage may vary here…). The great thing about this keyboard is that it is such a good fit in the lid is that you can press it in, and it will hold, or you can pull it out and set it in front of you, not having to deal with typing the lid of the Pelican Case. Pair that with something like a travel mouse and this is much more comfortable to use.

The keyboard is a perfect fit, leaving plenty of room for accessories.

I chose to use a MiniPC because I had a really great experience with them when I made my modded Virtual Pinball Table. Seeing just how powerful MiniPCs had become, it made me really question the value of using a RaspberryPi for this use case. (don’t get me wrong I still love Raspberry Pi’s and I have dozens of them being used in various applications). Plus having Windows 11 gives me access to all the software I wanted, most importantly WinTAK. I landed on using a GMTEK N5105 because it used USB C as a power input, which greatly reduces complexity for handling power, as everything can be powered off a battery pack, routed through the PC and power would then be controlled with a single on-off button. 

Power button ringed in "The Division" orange

Speaking of which… getting a simple, fun, theme appropriate, but still quite functional power button required a lot of work. In fact, this one aspect was probably the single largest driving factor of the design, and forced so many of the layout decisions for the deck. That said, it is a lot of fun to turn this thing on (and the spring button extension ensures a fun time can be had by all).

The "pass through" springy power button, adapting the function to the theme, while ensuring that the layout can be maintained.

I used a ZMI PowerPack No. 20 to power everything, because it could meet the power output demands of the rig. This also allowed me to funnel all power through the battery pack removing the need for a bunch of individual switches (don’t get me wrong, toggle switches are fun, but not practical). Because of how the GMTEK uses power over USB C (not using USB C PD), I used a voltage trigger to regular the output to guarantee 12v power supply. Of the three power ports on the ZMI No. 20, one goes to the MiniPC, which in turn powers absolutely everything else in the rig. The second port is a direct power in line to charge, or maintain charge on, the battery, and the third goes to the front panel to supply power to any additional device.

The complexity of fitting everything together, the battery pack taking up a majority of the space.

There is only one issue with the battery pack, and that is the problem of drain over time due to USB C PD standards. You see, USB C devices when turned off very often draw a small amount of power over time. The battery pack, because it complies with the standards, allows for this. I tried using various shutoff switches, but ran into a problem with those as well, because those shutoff stitches are also PD compliant and they draw small amounts of the voltage. This is actually a similar problem that nearly every modern laptop has in general. In the end for long term storage I simply unplug the line from the battery to the MiniPC so there is no drain. (It is also recommended to keep the battery between 25-75% charged for long term storage). Needless to say I will keep an eye out for a power shutoff switch that supports the PD standard and Wattage requirements, but will actually act as a hard shutoff, and iterate on the design if I ever find one.

No more patch cable from front panel to ethernet hub

For the ethernet splitter, I chose to use a lesser one for a good reason: it had the primary uplink in the back. which allowed me to not require a patch cable from the front panel to switch, as in previous iterations. Unfortunately it is slightly less capable as a hub, and also feels cheaper. This is another device I think I will continue to iterate on, trying to find a more ideal device, but it works for now.

The touch screen is one of many similar screens but was generally well reviewed, and  it provides to me with a good HDMI connection and touch screen capabilities which more or less works right out of the box.

The cable management looks a mess, but it is suprisingly maintainable.

Through a series of cables and angle adapters, everything is made to fit on the frame. In some cases it was necessary to pay more for less, such as < 1 ft cables, as this was already going to be a cabling nightmare. I also included some fans and airflow vents to ensure I could keep things cool, as a MiniPC will likely run much hotter than a RaspberryPi.

I will continue to iterate on this deck, with future revisions looking for more ideal cable types, removing the need for adapters, etc.

Conclusion

From initial idea to final build was about 2 months. But the end result is something that can be easily replicated. So, how well did I meet my goals for the project?

1. It must meet and exceed functional parity with v1 - A more capable computer, with an OS that has better software support, this deck can do everything the previous deck did, and now much more. All of the additional devices, such as USB GPS, Thumb drives, etc from my previous build will all work just fine.

2. It must be buildable with only “off the shelf” parts - Everything is source-able through Amazon, though not everything ships super quickly, expect a multi-week delay on the keyboard, at the very least, but a lot of this stuff is available next day. For complete transparency, some items I already had, such as heat insets, Metric bolts, etc. but I still captured them in my shopping list. 

3. The price point of the build should be comparable. - This build actually cost less than the RaspberryPi build, at ~$800, which is nearly $200 less if you are buying all brand new components. What was spent on a MiniPC was more than made up for in the cost saving from not using a PlanckEZ keyboard, and very expensive lock toggle switches and additional hardware. Of course there is a whole debate that can be had about the value cost of building something like this deck vs just buying a refurbished toughbook, and yes that is a very valid view, but that was never the point of this build.

4. It must be more user friendly to use - Ignoring the Operating System debate of Windows vs Linux, less also has to be done to use this deck. One button to power everything on, no complex switches to toggle power, 6 inch ethernet patch cable. Even the keyboard is more user friendly than the PlanckEZ.

5. It must be more user friendly to build - Nearly everything is plug and play, with the exception of heat insets for the metric bolts, no soldering iron is needed. Once all the 3d printed parts are printed and prepped, and all the other components have arrived from amazon, the entire build should only take about an hour. Likely even less. Of course this is only true if you are buying the exact components I used.

The Division cyberdeck in it's natural environment.

Self grading myself here, I nearly have a perfect score. There is only a single issue that I was unable to resolve; the battery drain when in storage. So I have to give myself some marks off there, but overall I think I did pretty well.

I certainly think this version of my survival deck is one that meets its intended purpose much better than its predecessor.