Electronics
As mentioned before, GERTY is built around this 7" LCD screen with a resolution of 1024x600 pixels.
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The control panel is operated by 5V, so I can power it directly from the 5V USB supplies that I am also using for the other components.
The screen is connected via HDMI to a Raspberry Pi model 3 B+ that I had lying around. This is connected via a USB cable to an Arduino Nano microcontroller (which operates the PIR infrared motion sensor). A PAM8403, 3W amp which powers the two speakers is connected to the 3.5mm headphone output of the Raspberry Pi
Later, I added a 3.5mm socket for the cable.
The Arduino Nano is sitting on a small custom PCB featuring a piezo buzzer, four transistor circuits (for the two lamps, the eye-LED, and the tea timer button LED), screw terminals (for the wires to the button and LEDs), and a 4-pin connector for the PIR.
Another PCB with screw terminals is used to distribute +5V and GND connections to different pieces of the circuit.
I made a small piggyback PCB for the Raspberry Pi, with screw terminals for the wires to the shutdown button and two LEDs.
And here is the control board for the 7" screen, partially hidden by the cabling mess (no matter how you try, at the end the cabling always becomes a mess).
Here, all the elements are installed in GERTY's body,
In both previous pictures one can also see the picture wire - this is how I plan to hang GERTY.
And here is a first front view with the blue eye-LED and the Raspberry Pi boot screen.
(The color rendition of the bright blue eye-LED is very poor in photos. In real life it is much closer to how it looks in the movie)
Ceiling Mount
In the movie, GERTY is hanging from the ceiling. So far, I never thought about that, but at this point I like the idea to simulate this. I found some inner cardboard pieces from rolls of wrapping paper which I painted using the same colors that I used for GERTY.
A wooden piece is glued into the inner part of the lower cardboard piece...
... and this is screwed to GERTY's top piece. The top (light gray) piece is held by friction on the lower piece. Therefore it can be moved up/down by a few inches, so it can be adjusted to reach the ceiling.
It adds a little to GERTY's appearance!
Something Else: A Lunar Industries Mug
Whenever I build a movie prop, I enjoy diving into that movie. Some time ago, Sam's Club gave me a coupon for an 11oz photo mug. Although my expectations fro the quality were low, I went ahead and created graphics with the Lunar Industries logo for printing on the mug.
I was afraid, that one would be able to see the transition from the white background of my graphics and the white color of the mug. But when I picked it up, I was not able to see the transition at all. The graphics is nicely covered by a glossy coating and it really looks great - excellent quality! And it already survived many cleanings!
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