Raspberry Pi4 Sheath Case (SCAD)

thingiverse

Got my hands on a brand new Raspberry Pi4, but I'm not a fan of those snap together cases. Instead, I opt for a straightforward friction sheath case where the USB/network jacks protrude from one end. This is an uncomplicated OpenSCAD design, so you can easily customize which holes suit your needs. While it's uncertain whether active cooling is truly necessary with heat sinks on top, I added some simple ventilation holes and incorporated a small air gap at the bottom for good measure. There's also an access slot for GPIO Hats, though some modification might be required to get one in place seamlessly. I personally use a sense-hat with mine, but connect it via an extender cable to keep the sensors away from the Pi's heat source. You'll notice some commented out lines that would produce holes for a pan-tilt hat, allowing you to assemble a pan-tilt pi webcam and slide it into the case effortlessly. I utilize these extensively for security cameras around the house – after discovering someone else's camera on my page at their supposedly secure encrypted site, I lost all trust in cloud-based services. Keep in mind that I printed this using PLA with a 0.5mm nozzle and a 0.4mm layer height. The specific dimensions were fine-tuned for an optimal friction fit of the Pi on my printer, but you might need to tweak print settings or adjust the dimensions in the .scad file for the best results. If you decide to print this as is on a SLA printer (with their superior dimensional accuracy), the fit will likely be a bit loose as uploaded. The (very simple) SCAD file is provided so you can make small adjustments with ease.