The Raspberry Pi 3 Slim

The Raspberry Pi is a very small computer, measuring just 85.6mm x 56mm. On the other hand, that’s only two out of three dimensions, and when looked at from the side, this board’s Ethernet and USB ports loom quite large comparatively. This might not be a problem for some — and those that don’t need the full power of a Pi 3 can always opt for the smaller Pi Zero — but this wasn’t good enough for hacker extraordinaire “NODE.”

In order to help satisfy his obsession with making electronics smaller, NODE took the credit card-sized Pi 3 and completely sawed off the part of the board that held the USB and Ethernet ports, replacing them with three micro USB connectors — the middle one is used to supply the Pi with power.

The new board—placed inside of a custom 3D-printed vented enclosure — reduces the Pi’s 17mm thickness down to roughly 7mm, which could make for an excellent headless computer or wireless access point.

If your Raspberry Pi isn’t slim enough for your liking, you can find more details on NODE’s open source project in his write-up here.