This is a project I've been working on for a while, inspired by other projects online, like OURS phone and the tutorial on Core Electronics Made using some parts I had (Raspberry Pi and screen), and the most compatible parts I could find online (4G hat and mini keyboard). This is my first time properly uploading a project to a github repo so I hope I'm doing this right. The main code file is flask_sms.py, which I access on my raspberry pi from a command, so it's basically an app. On my raspberry pi all the files are found in the Desktop, with sms_flask being a sub-folder on the desktop. If you want to change this, just change the file paths in flask_sms.py. I'll attach .stls for the case, which isn't amazing but it does have a hinge that I'm very proud of. There's some setup involved with linking the 4G hat's serial connection, and i'm not 100% sure that it's the same for everyone, i've done a LOT of googling, but I'll put my process in at some point.
Raspberry Pi 3B+ You could probably use a different pi but this is what I had
5-inch LCD Display Also available elsewhere. I've had this for ages and it still hasn't turned into a touchscreen, there are probably better options
Mini wireless keyboard Found this on amazon, it's not amazing for typing but it's got a touchpad which is really useful
Battery pack that I found at a park
Generic hdmi cable that I cut in half and resoldered to shorten but it's not short enough, stay tuned for better solutions
Just bought 2 of these HDMI plugs from Jaycar and i'm gonna try soldering them to make a new, shorter HDMI cable, not expecting this to work but we'll see
Optional: Raspberry Pi Camera, there's a port for it in the case, and you can make a camera app pretty easily with raspistill commands
The 4G hat is connected by a serial connection to the raspberry pi through a USB cable. To control the HAT through the serial connection, you use AT commands, which are commonly used in modems. I definitely recommend using the Waveshare Documentation for research, or if you want to change the code. I haven't been able to get an internet connection yet, but there's a guide on there you can try.
I used this Core Electronics tutorial to setup the serial connection. You'll need to enable serial with sudo raspi-config, then you'll install minicom and so on.
You can set flask_sms.py to execute like an app, and it will open a terminal window and then a web browser. I wasn't sure how else to make a text-based interface, so the flask website will open and you'll choose a contact from the drop-down or all unread messages, there's also a page for all messages stored on the sim, but i have all messages being saved in the text file and deleted from the sim, so this will normally be empty.
Replace the sketchily shortened HDMI cable with a better option, maybe buy ports and solder them together I'm going to buy this ribbon cable with this and this or two of these
Get Internet working
