A super quick article for those who just got their hands on the Raspberry Pi Pico and want to keep it safe and snug in a case. Either with a resin printer or fused filament printer both can produce excellent cases. It was very pleasant prototyping with both these machines. Being able to produce a functional case with the Creality LD-002R printer in under an hour is just spectacular. Then having the versatility and strength offered by the variety of material choices of fused filament printers like the Ultimaker 3 is very cool too. Feel like a prototyping powerhouse dual wielding these two machines.
Hidden Feature - If you squeeze the two parts together you can press the button! Flexible materials like PLA and CPE I would recommend to enable this feature.
This case is a two-piece press-fit component with no fasteners required if printing with the filament. If you want to keep the case on permanently a little tiny bit of glue around the edges will keep your Pico Safe for a long time! This is particularly important for the resin print as the properties of the resin mean it doesn’t flex very much however combining resin and filament prints work. This means it won't squish and create a press fit. Walls are thick on the models so it can last some accidental drops (or even being stepped on with the right material) and is an asymmetric design so you won't lose your orientation of the GPIO pins. The access to the pins is perfect in combination with headers that can easily be soldered on. More Case variation on demand.
I printed this case with Ultimaker Blue ABS, White CPE , Red PLA and Creality Transparent Resin (although I did colour the resin check out how in this guide).
Find the STL Download Link at the bottom of this page. Also attached at the bottom is a CAD file of the Pico in case you feel inspired to make your own case. I have been squinting at it for awhile trying to figure out if I can print a case as a UNI-body like the ONESIE Raspberry PI 4 Model B case I created not too long ago but yet to have figured out how to implement it well. Would love to see one though.
As always if you've got any questions, queries or things you'd like to see added please let us know your thoughts!
Settings for Fused Filament 3D Printing
Below is the orientation to print this model. It should automatically open up to this orientation and also be scaled correctly. I used a 0.1mm height, Ultimaker Blue ABS in this example, 100% Infill and it turned out peachy. No supports needed. Around 6 Hours to print the way I like.
Once it is printed you just plug them together easy. If your printer isn't dialled in perfect you may need to shave off just a little bit from the standoffs so everything fits just right. Otherwise smooth sailing. See below for all the sides of a two-material Pico Armour case with Pico safe inside.
Settings for Resin Print
No supports needed, printed directly on the build plate. Both components can fit on a single print when using a Creality LD-002R printer. The Models were printed with 100% infill and printed perfectly flat on the platform. This took around 1 Hour to print and post-process. Truly a pleasure to prototype with this machine, just the speed to get a tangible model off the computer and into your hands makes this machine champion. Being able to make really good design revisions is just so powerful.
Even comes in red and white. Seen below is a Pico Armour fresh off the printer. Further below is the Pico with some headers installed so that you can easily place it on a breadboard (whilst it stays real safe) and making it easier to connect Molex connectors to it, reminds me of a trojan horse.
