PROJECT CODE: TOPI - Tactical Orbital Projection Interface

'Space - beyond the veil of twilight lies a place where science meets imagination. A canvas of stars, where time stretches and destiny awaits those who dare to explore!'

Hi dear reader. In this Instructable I will be showing you how to make and use this device with instructions, tips and advice that I hope gives someone inspiration to build your very own portable space observer and educational tool for the young, old and everyone in between.

The Project:

So what is project TOPI (pronounced like the name Toby).

TOPI 'Tactical Orbital Projection Interface' is a small portable space observatory with a laptop running a custom user interface containing direct links to specifically picked websites and applications for planet observations, comet and satellite tracking space weather updates and many more. The UI also has a graphical interface, not just pretty pictures or GIFs that makes it look cool, but live widgets that move... all be it very slowly, which regularly update with things like planetary positions, Earth/lunar phases, next space flight countdowns and geomagnetic activity.

It is also a sky/space observer with an attached telescope and a dedicated smartphone for augmented reality space viewing, telescope recordings and a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot.

For both solo viewing and if you're outside with a group of friends and family, TOPI is also an adjustable projection system for projecting anything from the laptop, phone and telescope onto a portable projection screen or a wall, or on a room wall or ceiling for indoor viewing.

It also has storage compartments for pens, laser pointers, notepads, telescope optics and other astronomer essentials. All of this installed an a robust portable housing.

If you haven't seen the video yet, here is one TOPI user case ... You use one of the laptop's or phone's space apps to locate a space object, lets say the planet Mars. Then with a choice of using planetary tracker apps (laptop), or using augmented reality apps (phone), or either the analogue of digital compass, extend then point the telescope in the right direction and find Mars using the appropriate scope lenses. You find the planet, view it via digiscoping with the phone's camera attached to the telescope eye piece that wirelessly streams to the laptop, which you can then project the live image onto a wall or portable projector screen so a group of people can see it at the same time. Then using the phone as a Wi-Fi hotspot, you can use one of the apps to find information and learn everything you want about Mars from the laptops custom user interface, right there and then. Fun, entertaining and very educational.

The Inspiration:

For as long as I can remember I have always loved everything to do with space, whether it's science fiction or fact. I'm from the U.K and when I was living in London I never really got much opportunity to go out star gazing for various reasons, but when I recently moved to the south coast I instantly noticed the difference in the sky and how much more I could see on a clear night. The North Sea is literally 300 meters or so from my back garden so there is little to no light pollution and I have been lucky enough to see so much more than what I ever did in London.

So I wanted to make the most of this and have something I could use to see things better or not even seen before, yet be portable enough to store and carry about. I also wanted something where I could learn about things right there and then as well as have access to live information to help me look for things like planets or when the ISS would pass over. Also I really wanted something where the experience could be shared with family and friends when they come to visit.

So spending a few weeks thinking of possible designs of what I could make that would be practical, easy to use and set up, as well as being entertaining, educational and easy to carry and store, I finally narrowed down a design that would work. Not a straight forward task as there were lots of small things to take into consideration such as scope movement, projector viewing, weight of the laptop, using storage draws in a practical way, and more.

The Build:

1. To make a portable unit, small enough to store and carry, yet contain all the items I wanted.
2. Be easy to set up and use while being practical and sturdy, especially for the telescope.
3. Make an easy to use yet stylish UI for the laptop and phone with a normal day mode and a night mode (mainly red screen) and find the best apps and websites for space viewing, tracking and learning.
4. Use MDF or plywood sheet to make the housing and draws.
5. Use Foamcore dividers for the draws to neatly store things like lens caps, and to protect the telescope's optics.
6. Fit a small pico projector and a motorised base for viewing angle adjustment.
7. The laptop would have to be able to slide in and out of the housing.
8. To side mount the telescope with a telescopic support where it would have full range of movement while keeping the housing still - important for projecting live telescope images.
9. Mount a dedicated smartphone using a cheap second hand one (you can use your every day phone too) to be used with AR space apps, telescope digiscoping, and as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot for the laptop.
10. And to keep the design relatively simple, robust and budget friendly.

Project TOPI was certainly an interesting build and it has worked very well. It has been a lot of fun to use, both by myself as well as others. My friends kids love using it when they visit and it has turned out to be a very educational device, not just for them, but for myself too.

So lets see how I built TOPI, my mini observatory...

Below is a list of tools, materials, software, websites and apps I used, but of course you can use your own similar items.

Tools:

1. Pencil
2. Metal ruler
3. Metal angle ruler
4. Tape measure
5. Jigsaw
6. Handheld circular saw
7. Hobby knife
8. Drill/driver with drill and screwdriver bits
9. Forstner drill bit (same diameter as the telescope support)
10. Nail gun
11. Small wood file

Materials:

1. 3 x 1200mm (L), 600mm (W), 12mm (Thickness) MDF sheets
2. 900mm x 15mm x 15mm stick timber
3. Wood glue
4. 13" Windows laptop with HDMI port for projector
5. Power connector cable (from battery pack to projector)
6. Android smartphone (You can use an iPhone for most of the features too)
7. Foamcore sheet for draw dividers
8. 2 x latching switches (push ON, Push Off)
9. HDMI cable
10. USB cable
11. Black and red paint
12. Carbon fiber effect vinyl wrap
13. Set of 4 hinges
14. 2 x draw latches
15. 10mm x 10 meter orange vinyl striping roll
16. 'Celestron' 22007 portable refractor telescope (this came with a phone adapter and tripod)
17. Portable mini projector
18. Linear actuator
19. Extendable selfie stick
20. DPDT rocker switch
21. Portable 12v battery pack
22. Draw runners, two pairs

Software:

1. Bluestacks Android Emulator for Windows PC (used for laptop and phone's UI and Android apps)
2. Total Launcher app (for the custom user interface)
3. Microsoft/Windows 'Phone Link' (for using the Android phone as a laptop camera. I believe you can do the same thing with an iPhone, but using a third party app)
4. 'Camera' app in Windows
5. A draw/paint app or program to draw your custom UI screens

Websites and Apps:

These are what I use, some of the Android apps are free, some have a small fee. But you may have preferred ones you wish to use.

Websites:

1. NASA: Eyes on the Solar System
2. NASA: Eyes on Asteroids
3. NASA: Eyes on the Earth
4. NASA: Eyes on Exoplanets
5. Stuff in Space
6. In the Sky
7. See a Satellite tonight
8. Stellarium Web
9. The Sky Live
10. ISS Tracker
11. 3D ISS Tracker (has a live ISS video feed too)

Apps - For the laptop:

1. Sun, Moon and Planets (has widgets)
2. Space Weather Tracker (has widgets)
3. Space Launch Now (has a widget)
4. Next Spaceflight (has a widget)
5. ISS Detector Satellite Tracker (has a widget)
6. Solar System Scope
7. Celestron Starry Night Software (free with the telescope)

For the Phone (Android OS):

1. Heavens Above (uses your phones compass)
2. Skyview Lite (has AR)
3. Star Walk 2 (has AR)
4. Star Tracker (has AR)
5. Astrolapp Live Sky Map (has AR)

List of the Following Steps:

1. Step 1: The Design: A look at the design elements of the project.
2. Step 2: Start to Build the Housing:
3. Step 3: The Optics Draw:
4. Step 4: The Laptop Tray:
5. Step 5: The Flip Down Draw:
6. Step 6: Telescope Support Box:
7. Step 7: Fitting the Projector Adjustment Mechanism:
8. Step 8: BONUS STEP: Explanation of Linear Actuators & Switches:
9. Step 9: Final Panel Fitting and Painting:
10. Step 10: Wiring Up:
11. Step 11: Foamcore Draw Dividers & Vinyl Wrap:
12. Step 12: Front Flap - Vinyl Wrap & Fitting:
13. Step 13: Final Fitting Jobs:
14. Step 14: Assembly:
15. Step 15: The User Interface Part 1, the Setup:
16. Step 16: The User Interface Part 2, Making the Backgrounds:
17. Step 17: The User Interface Part 3, Finishing the UI:
18. Step 18: Setup Your Android Phone As a Virtual Windows Laptop Camera:
19. Step 19: Conclusion:

Build Time:

1. A little over 4 days in total including making the user interfaces.

NOTE: I am based in the U.K and the links I supply are not affiliated ones because I want to help fellow makers, not to earn money from them. All of the links I supply are for reference purposes to help assist you to get the same or similar items from suppliers from your corner of the world.

I've already mentioned some brief design aspects in the intro, but here's a more detailed breakdown of the initial design process that will hopefully help you build and even design your very own. And yes, I am fully aware that the design drawings make TOPI kinda look like a cash register, lol.

The Housing:

The housing is made from MDF and has a front slide out draw and a flip down draw on the right side. I decided to use some small draw runners which a base would attach to and the laptop would slide in and out. The front cover would be a single piece of wood fitted to the housing with hinges that would flip down, rest on the open draw, and the laptop would slide over, then flip back up to close it secured by a latch. Being portable and easy to set up were important factors. A flip down draw with dividers would be fitted to the side to store smaller items, and would flip up and lock with another latch. The outside of the housing would be painted black with the front, flip draw and telescope housing wrapped with carbon fiber vinyl wrap, and the inside painted red to compliment the red LED lighting.

The UI:

The user interface needed to be a simple yet stylish design. Using a Windows laptop, I opted to use an Android emulator, 'Bluestacks' and the customaisable Android launcher app 'Total Launcher' which I had used before on my Interactive Smart Table, but this would be a much more simplified layout than that. Doing it this way would give me the option to use Android apps and widgets as well as using Windows programs as well. I used a paint program to draw the basic UI background, and instead of using GIFs to make the UI look good, I wanted to use actual graphical widgets that contain useful live information. Not many apps I looked at had widgets so I had to choose the best of what was on offer. I drew two backgrounds, one as a 'day mode' and another as a 'night mode' which would be exactly the same as the other, but night mode would mainly be red so when TOPI is used outside, it wouldn't interfere with someone's eyes when they have adapted to the dark. The buttons I made are direct links to specifically chosen space themed websites and apps I wanted to use as well as a web search, local weather and day/night mode switching. I would also do the same for the phone as well so the whole system matched.

Addition of a Phone:

Using an old smartphone, I would use this as a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot to connect the laptop to to access all of the websites and apps mentioned above, when out and about. This would also act as a viewfinder camera to stream the telescopes image to the laptop and then to the projector if needed, and to take photos or record video of what is seen through the telescope. It would also be used with augmented reality apps for helping locate constellations and star/planet locations using the phones camera, GPS, gyro and compass sensors... things the laptop doesn't have, and again these could also be streamed to the laptop screen and projector for group viewings. And of course having an actual phone just incase I ever needed to report a UFO or meteor hurtling towards Earth.

Mounted Telescope:

Although I have a big interest in space, I have never actually owned a telescope so 'Project TOPI' would give me the perfect opportunity to buy one. The laptop has an HDMI and USB ports so a much more robust and more powerful professional telescope that can connect to a computer could be used, but having my smaller starter scope fitted to the TOPI housing would make carrying it, setting it up and using it much more convenient. I would mount the scope to the side of the housing and as the telescope came with a small tripod, I decided to dismantle it then remove and use the central telescopic support from it to raise and lower the scope so I would have full range of movement.

Storage:

Having a padded draw on the front of the housing would give me somewhere to safely store the telescope's optics and store other things such as the lens caps. A side mounted flip down draw would also store a green laser pointer, flashlight, pens/pencils and a notepad.

The Projector:

And the projector would be great for projecting images from the telescope and any of the websites and apps as well as photos and video recordings taken for group viewings. This would have its own portable power supply and would be fitted to an adjustable mount inside the housing. Having it face forwards would be for group showings, and tilting it up could be used when indoors and laying on the bed looking at live external video streams from space, or play back recordings when the weather is not so good, or just to chill and relax to. A linear actuator and rocker switch would adjust the projector angle.

Design Drawings:

The drawings I made when planning this gave me a good idea how it would eventually look, and after a few design ideas I ended up taking the best elements from them and came up with this final design along with all of the measurements needed for the panels to make up the TOPI housing.

In this step, we will start to build the housing. It won't be fully finished in this step as it will be easier to fit the other components first before adding things like the housing top panel and fronts covers.

1. To start off, we need to mark out and cut the panels needed for Project TOPI. The full list of panels, quantity and measurements can be found in the pictures above. Measure and mark out the panels, writing their name of each one for easy identification. Cut to size the stick timber length as well.
2. Cut the panels out, clean the edges up with some sandpaper then put them all to one side. Here we can also cut out two identical areas on the top panel and along the top of the back panel. This is for the opening flap to reveal the projector. You will now need the back, base and side panels, wood glue and a nail gun (or hammer and nails).
3. Using a second pair of hands or using the top panel to prop up the side panel will help with this stage. Grab the base and one of the side panels, glue along one of the long edges of the base and attach to the bottom of the side panels making sure the base is flush with the front of the side panel. We are leaving a 12mm gap at the back to mount the back panel. With the nail gun, nail the two panels together ensuring the edges are flush then wipe away any excess glue.
4. Flip the two fitted panels over and attach the other side panel the same way (glue and nail).
5. Grab the back panel, and insuring it is the correct way up (projector cutout at the top), apply glue the two side edges and along the back edge of the base panel, then fit the back panel in place then nail in.

The rest of the housing will now be built along the way as we make the other components.

Top tip:

When applying wood glue, spread out the glue with your finger or a paint brush to insure the whole to be glued, is covered. This helps to reduce the amount of glue seeping out the sides, and full coverage also makes the bond stronger.

The optics draw is mounted on two draw runners fitted to the bottom of the draw, not the sides. I did this for better stability and so it didn't sag as the folding front cover would rest of this when TOPI is in use.

1. Grab your cut out draw panels, upper base panel, wood glue, nail gun, drill/driver with a small drill bit and screwdriver bit, and one pair of draw runners.
2. Lay the draw base onto your work surface and place all of the side panels on top make sure they will all fit. Trim off any excess wood if necessary.
3. Apply glue to the edge of one of the sides and attach to the base ensuring it's flush to the edge. Flip upside down and nail in place.
4. Continue fitting the rest of the side panels the same way.
5. With the draw upside down, lay one of the draw runners on the base, line it up with the edge to ensure it is straight, and screw down. Then do the same with the other runner.
6. Place the draw into the housing, line it up so it is equally measured on each side and the front of the runners are flush with the front edge of the housing base, then drill a pilot hole and screw down. Start with the first screw at the back on one runner then the other runner. Then, making sure the draw is still straight making adjustments if necessary, slowly pull the draw out and carry on fitting the other screws.
7. Now glue and fit the two stick timber lengths to the housing in between the side panels and the draw. The stick timber should fit so they are just a little higher than the draws top edge (leaving about a 1mm gap) so the draw won't rub against the upper panel when fitted.
8. You can now do a test fit of the upper base panel, then apply glue along the top of both stick timber lengths and along the two side edges of the upper base panel, then fit into place. Drive in a few nails through the side of the housing into the upper base.
9. Now the draw front can be fitted. With the housing on your work surface and the draw closed, place a piece of scrap cardboard flat on the surface in front of the draw, then rest the draw front panel on top of the cardboard against the draw. This acts as a spacer to ensure the draw front won't rub and scrape along the surface TOPI is sitting on. Also make sure the top of the draw front panel is not overlapping the edge of the upper base as the edge of the flip down front cover will need to sit in this gap. Simply apply glue the the back of the draw front and attach/clamp it to the draw then nail in.

Top Tip:

I have been asked this a few times, so I thought I'd also answer here to help others if they have the same question. I get asked the question... "If the wood glue is that good, why do I also use nails or screws as well?". Here's why. Using nails straight after gluing offers immediate holding power preventing any joined wood from moving or slipping while the glue dries and cures. The nails also add extra strength which is never a bad thing, especially where the glued pieces would be subjected to impacts or any kind of stress.

Now we move onto the slide out tray the laptop will sit on. Making this is not all that different to making the optics draw in step 3.

1. Grab your already cut out laptop tray panels, the wood glue, nail gun, drill/driver with a small drill bit and screwdriver bit, and the other pair of draw runners.
2. Apply glue to one of the 5cm corner pieces and attach to one corner of the base ensuring it is flush to the edges of the base.
3. With one of the smaller 3.8cm pieces, glue the bottom edge and one end and attach to the base and inside edge of the other corner piece.
4. Do the same for the other four corners. The reason why we are not using full length side panels and only corners is to 1: allow hot air to escape from the laptop's heat vents, and 2: to allow access to all of the laptop's ports.
5. Place one of the other larger unused housing panels and place on top of the tray and add some weight (heavy tools for example) and wait for an hour or so for the glue to dry. Then remove the panel, flip the tray upside down, and drive in a couple of nails to each corner.
6. With the tray upside down and the same way we fitted the draw runners in step 3, lay down, drill and screw in the two draw runners to the base, then place the tray onto the upper base in the housing and drill/screw the runners into place. NOTE: On this stage, because of the sloping front of the housing, you don't want the front of the runners and tray to be flush with the front edge of the upper base, otherwise the front housing lid wont fully close. So make sure the front of the runners and tray are flush with the front edge of the upper base, then hold up the front lid against the sloping edges, pushing the tray back until the lid is fully seated on the sloping edge. Then make pencil marks on the base along the front of runners to mark out the final resting position.

Next thing to make is the flip down draw. Again, making this is not all that different to making the optics draw in step 3.

1. Grab your already cut out draw panels, the wood glue, nail gun, drill/driver with a small drill bit and screwdriver bit, and one of the hinges.
2. Apply glue to one of the edge pieces and attach to the top edge of the base ensuring it is flush to the edges of the base.
3. Continue attaching the other side pieces as above. The shorter and wider end piece is for the hinge to attach to.
4. Lay the draw down on the work surface with the shorter wider back side panel laying against the main housing where you want the draw located.
5. Screw in the hinge to the top of the shorter draw back panel and then to the housing.
6. Lay the housing onto it's telescope mounting side, close the flip draw, place the small MDF spacer for the latch onto the housing side just above the top end of the draw, place the latch on top and mark out where the latching arm comes out onto the end of the draw.
7. Remove the draw, and cut out the marked area just enough for the latching arm to fit through The best way I found to do the was to use a saw drill bit, but drilling out multiple holes, cutting out the excess with a knife and filing down the edges until smooth will also work well.
8. Refit the draw to the housing, glue down the spacer piece and attach the latch making sure the latching arm can slide in and out of the draw. Then remove the draw and put to one side for now.

Here we will need all of the scope panels, wood glue, nail gun drill/driver, and a small wood file.

1. Glue and nail the back and two side panels together.
2. Glue the scope box to the left side of the housing, then drill and screw in a couple of screws from the inside of the housing into the scope box for extra support.
3. Glue and nail in the bottom base panel to the scope box.
4. With the front box panel, drill in two holes the diameter of the push button switched. Then drill two holes in oversite corners through the mark out for the rocker switch, the holes big enough to fit the jigsaw blade through. The cut out the rest with the jigsaw and file down any rough edges.
5. Test fit the switches to make sure they fit then remove for permanent fitting later on.
6. Using a Forstner drill bit, stack the upper base panel and and top panel on top of a scrap piece of wood, and drill the holes for the scope rest.
7. Glue and nail in the two panels and set aside the front panel for now.
8. Finally, drill a large enough hole through the housing into the scope box to feed the cables through.

To fit the projector, we will need the two flap cover panels, the two supports, the projector tray and the battery retainer strip. For the tools, we need a pencil, a couple of wood clamps, drill/driver, glue and a ruler. We will also need the linear actuator, and to help with the fitting, the rocker switch and the power pack as we will need to move the actuator shaft for fitting and testing.

1. Measure, mark and cut out the flap panels. Then glue one long edge of the shorter panel and attach to the larger one, then clamp together until the glue dries.
2. Measure the location of the tripod mounting thread of the projector, transfer that to the projector tray panel, mark and drill a hole for the fitting bolt to fit through.
3. Put the supports together and drill a hole through both so the holes are equal in both. The holes should be high enough so the tray will sit just above the cut out on the housing when it is in it's upright position, and the holes big enough that the screws can fit through without tightening.
4. Drill one more hole into the other end of one of the supports, about 1cm from the end. This is for the actuator fitting.
5. Drill a pilot hole on each side of the projector tray, abou1.5cm from the front. Then screw the supports to the tray with a washer in between, but don't fully tighten so the tray can move freely from the supports.
6. Glue the supports into position inside the housing and glue the battery retainer panel in as well, high enough to keep the battery in place, but lo enough to you can remove it when you need to.
7. Connect the actuator to the rocker switch and battery pack, and extend the shaft to its maximum position (See how to connect the actuator in the following step).
8. Screw in the bottom of the actuator to the support, making sure the actuator can still move freely, then screw the actuator shaft to the side of the projector plate, again making sure it can move freely.

When fitting the actuator, test the positions so it has the full 90 degree range to change from fully horizontal to fully vertical positions. Reposition the screw on the projector plate if needed, to get the full range of movement. You can disconnect the switch and battery pack for now.

One little job to do is to add a spacer using a small scrap of wood that will sit between the bottom of the projector tray and the back of the TOPI housing. This is to keep the projector tray and actuator from resting completely vertical, as the actuator needs to rest at a slight angle so it can move the projector tray smoothly and not directly push up against it which will put strain on the actuator, the fittings and makes for a jerky movement. Glue the spacer to the bottom of the projector tray.

Not so much of a step, but rather an explanation. Some of you will know what these are, but some of you may not so here is a brief explanation of what linear actuators are with a guide of how to wire them up.

A linear actuator is a device that converts a typical rotation motor like a DC motor that turns a wheel, into a something that gives an up and down motion. A linear actuator has a shaft that moves forwards or upwards and holds in that position until you want it to go backwards or downwards again (think of the electric telescopic radio aerials found on older cars). The shaft can also be stopped anywhere in between its maximum and minimum positions.

Some have four or even eight wires and are controlled by connecting it to a microcontroller where you can program the speed and distance of travel of the shaft (used in robotics for example), while others, like the one I used in this project, are stand alone units that have two wires, have a fixed speed, and can be controlled simply by connecting it to a power supply and a switch. These generally have built-in limiting circuits meaning when you press and hold a switch, the shaft will move to its minimum or maximum travel position and automatically stop, even if you're still pressing the switch.

The specifications of a linear actuator are also important to know. I will use the actuator I am using in this project as an example, the specs are Stroke 100mm-15mm/S-50n 12v...

1. Stroke 100mm = This means the total length of the shaft only (not the housing) at its full extended length. In this case the total length of the extended shaft is 10cm.
2. 15mm/s = This describes the time it takes for the shaft to extend of retract. In this case the shaft will move 15mm every one second.
3. 50 = This refers to the maximum thrust or force, in this case 50 Newtons.
4. 12v = This is the specified input operating voltage, in this case, 12 volts.

As of switches, the ones generally used to control a linear actuator are referred to as Momentary DPDT (Double Pole Double Throw) switches. The momentary part means a switch you press and hold to do something then release it to stop (think of a car horn). A latching switch is where, for example, you press it once to turn something on (the switch locks into the On position) and you press it again it turns that thing off (the switch now locks into the Off position, think of a standard light switch). I have used both types of switch in the Project TOPI, Press Button Latching Switches to operate the projector and LED lighting, and a Momentary Rocker Switch for the linear actuator to adjust the projector's angle.

1. The 'Double Pole' means it has two input sides (Poles) so it can control two separate circuits.
2. 'Double Throw' means it has two output sides for each Pole (side) of the switch. This means it can connect the input to one of two output terminals (refer to the pictures above for an illustrated example).

Another thing to note are the terms 'NO' (Normally Open) and 'NC' (Normally Closed). These refer to open circuits (like when a light is off where the switch breaks the power connection), and closed circuits (the light is now on as the switch joins the power connection). Both Momentary and Latching switches have these options...

1. 'NO' (Normally Open) switches are in an Off open circuit position by default - Pressing these switches turn 'On'.
2. 'NC' (Normally Closed) switches are in an On closed circuit position by default - Pressing these switches turn 'Off'.

So using a Momentary DPDT switch ('NO') is ideal for controlling a linear actuator because you can press the switch to move the actuator's shaft to the position you want it then release it to stop, and also having a switch to control two circuits means you can press the switch one way to complete one circuit (actuator shaft goes up), and press the switch the other way which completes the other circuit in reverse (actuator shaft goes down). To wire a DPDT switch to an actuator, please refer to the wiring diagram in the above pictures. Two ideal DPDT switch types you can use are a...

1. Momentary 'Rocker' switch (press it one side to close a circuit, release it and it returns to center to open the circuit, press it the other side to close a circuit).
2. Momentary 'Toggle' switch (toggle it one side to close a circuit, release it and it returns to center to open the circuit, toggle it the other side to close a circuit).

So if you didn't know about linear actuators and the switched to control them, then I hope this little guide helped explain things. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll endeavor to answer.

Here, we will need the the top and upper front panels for the housing, nail gun wood glue, drill/driver and some screws and the red LED strip. We will also need masking tape and scrap paper, and the red and black paint. I chose to spray paint for this project, but you can brush paint if you prefer.

1. Start off by masking the actuator and wires and the draw runners for the laptop tray.
2. Now give the inside of the housing three or four coats of red paint. Start off with a light dust coat, wait for the stated drying time on the paint container, then carry on with the following coats and allow to fully dry.
3. Place the top housing panel into position, then drill and screw down. We screw this panel down instead of gluing and nailing in case better access is needed for maintenance in the future.
4. Glue and nail in the upper front panel to the housing.
5. Remove the backing tape of the red LED strip, and attach around the upper inside of the housing (the two side panels and along the inside edge of the upper front panel).
6. Mask off all of the red areas, the paint the outside of the housing and the draw sides the same way as we did with the red. When fully dry, remove all of the masking.
7. Also paint he projector flap when painting the housing. I painted both sides of the flap black as this opens up.

With the painting done, we can now connect up the electrical components. For this step, we will need the rocker switch, two push button switches, the front panel for the scope box, wire cutters/strippers, heat shrink tubing, soldering iron and a small length of electrical wire. I pre-painted the front scope box panel before this step which is why it is black, but later decided to vinyl wrap it.

1. Attach some wires to the switches, feed them through the front scope box panel, then press home the switches so they are nice and secure.
2. Feed the wires for the switches through the hole of the scope box into the main housing.
3. Follow the wiring diagrams above to connect the negative actuator, projector power cable, and battery pack power cables together, soldering the wires and insulating with heat shrink tubing. Slide a length of heat shrink tubing over one of the wires first, then solder together, then slide the tubing over the join and apply heat to the tube to shrink it into position.
4. Do the same for the positive wires, but this time connecting the the push button switch wires inline with the positive battery cable.
5. Following the other wiring diagram for the red LED strip, then test to make sure all of the devices are working properly.
6. We can now clamp the front scope box panel into position, the drill and screw it down, then remove the clamp.

Top tip:

Make sure you leave enough wire for the actuator, as this end will move so there needs to be enough play so the actuator moves freely and doesn't pull the wires.

For this step, I haven't given any measurements for this step simply because your equipment sizes, choices, and layout preferences may be different to mine. You will need a metal edge ruler, tape measure, hobby knife like an X-acto knife with a new blade, pencil, cutting board and a hot glue gun.

1. For the removed main draw and flip down draw, measure out a length of vinyl wrap to fully cover both sides of the flap panel with a bit of overlap, then cut the vinyl using you metal ruler and knife. Make sure you start off with a new blade.
2. Start to peel back the vinyl backing paper and start to attach the vinyl to the flap. Start about half way up the back side of the panel, and slowly and steadily smooth over the vinyl with the squeegee getting rid of any air bubbles.
3. Keep attaching the vinyl, flipping the draws over peeling back the backing paper a little bit at a time until full attached.
4. Cut off any excess vinyl and check that the vinyl is fully attached.
5. Measure the inner dimensions of the draws, then mark it out onto a sheet of Foamcore.
6. Lay the Foamcore onto the cutting board, lay the metal ruler against one of the line markings, press down firmly onto the ruler making sure your fingers are not overhanging where you're going to cut, then slowly start the cut along the cut line. Don't try to make the cut in one go, instead make a gentil score cut first making sure the blade is against the metal ruler, then do the cut again another two or three times. Doing this will help keep the cut line straight and clean. Carry on until you have cut out the complete panel.
7. Measure, mark and cut out four Foamcore lengths for the sides. Hot glue along the bottom of one side panel and attach it to the Foamcore base. Carry on attaching the rest of the side panels, but this time gluing the bottom and side edges where the sides will meet.
8. Lay out your equipment onto the cut out Foamcore panel to the way you want them. Make sure you leave a little gap for each item so you can grab them easily when the dividers are in place. Then draw pencil lines between each tool marking out where the dividers are going to be placed.
9. Measure, mark and cut out Foamcore strips for the dividers. Starting with the longest ones first, hot glue along the edges and attach them to the base over the pencil markings. Keep going until all of the dividers are in place.

Top tips:

When making your first cut onto the Foamcore, start with a light, slow 'score' cut. With a new blade, it is quite easy to start cutting along the metal ruler edge and then unexpectedly veer of and cut where you don't want to if you cut to hard and quickly. Plus the score cut will help guide the blade on the next cut. Slow and steady wins this race.

Also, when you start to notice that the cutting process becomes harder and the Foamcore starts to 'pill', stop cutting and change the blade. This will make for clean and straight cuts.

For this step, we will need the front flap panel, hinges, draw latches drill/driver and screws. We will then need the vinyl wrap, hobby knife, metal edge ruler, pencil and a vinyl wrap squeegee to smooth out the vinyl when laying it.

1. Open the front draw and lay the front flap panel on top of it. The front flap should be flush with the upper base panel above the draw. Lint the flap up, drill and screw the hinges to the flap and upper base panel. Close and open the flap for testing, then unscrew the flap from the hinges.
2. Measure out a length of vinyl wrap to fully cover both sides of the flap panel with a bit of overlap, then cut the vinyl using you metal ruler and knife. Make sure you start off with a new blade.
3. Start to peel back the vinyl backing paper and start to attach the vinyl to the flap. Start about half way up the back side of the panel, and slowly and steadily smooth over the vinyl with the squeegee getting rid of any air bubbles.
4. Keep attaching the vinyl, flipping the panel over peeling back the backing paper a little bit at a time.
5. When fully wrapped, make a small cut on each end of each side, cut off one side of the excess vinyl, and fold over and attach the rest to the inside of the flap panel. Do this on both sides.
6. Now we can reattach the flap to the housing hinges.
7. Follow the the same process to wrap the main draw front and the scope box.
8. With the front flap closed, drill and screw down the latch to the upper front panel, and the latch retainer to the flap.
9. Reattach the flip down draw to the housing, and fit the latch.

We are now ready to fit the final pieces before final assembly.

heading towards the end of building the housing now, we have a few more jobs to do.

1. Grab the projector flap and a hinge, screw the hinge to the center of the flap, then screw to the housing making sure there's a tiny gap on each side so the flap can open and close without the sides rubbing.
2. An optional extra, I got a small compass with a suction cup, so to attach this to the housing, I cut out a small square of plastic sheet and glued it to the back of the projector flap, glossy side of the plastic facing outwards for the compass suction cup to attach to.
3. Screw in the two 'L' brackets to attach the carry strap to, to each side of the housing making sure they are equally located on each side. Then with a pair of pliers or a hammer, bent the brackets so the are pointing upwards, then test fit the laptop bag carry strap.
4. Now screw in the two spring brackets to the front right side of the housing, making sure they are spaced out enough to hold the base of the phone selfie stick.
5. Next is to attach the orange vinyl striping. Simply peel back the backing paper off the stripe and attach around the edges of the housing. Attach it to the smooth edges of the housing, not the cut MDF edges as it will stick much better.
6. I drew up a name plate using a draw/paint program on my laptop, sized it so it would print out landscape on an A4 sheet of card, cut it out and stuck it to the housing using some double sided sticky tape.
7. Now for the flip down draw cover. This is to keep all of the items in the draw in place and not fall out when the draw is opened or closed. Cut out a piece of Foamcore to fit inside of the flip down draw, cutting out a small finger sized hole to open the cover with, and cover with vinyl wrap. Place the cover into the recess of the draw and run an length of vinyl wrap along the far side of the cover and attach to the draw. This will act as a hinge to open and close the cover.

And with the housing pretty much finished now. we can do a little bit of assembly to make our TOPI housing complete.

Now is the time to gather all of our accessories.

1. Raise the projector platform to the horizontal position and fit the projector.
2. Plug in all of the electronics to the battery pack.
3. Fill the draws with all of the bits and pieces you need for your space observing.
4. Fit the telescope support into it's housing making sure the bottom of the support is firmly seated into the bottom scope box panel, then attach the telescope.
5. Connect the HDMI cable into the back of the projector, ready to connect to the laptop.
6. Then attach the carry strap ready to take TOPI on its travels.

And the TOPI housing is now complete. But to complete the entire package, we need to set up out laptop and phone. This is broken down into the three following steps to set up the interface, to make it how we want it to look, and then to make it all work ready for our space exploration adventures.

To begin building our custom Android UI, we will need 'Bluestacks' Android emulator installed on the laptop, then use the emulators built in Google Play store to download the 'Total Launcher' app, and have a draw/paint program installed on your PC or the TOPI laptop if you like to create the interface background (or download mine if you want to use them from the pictures above). With the emulator and launcher up and running, you will then need to download all of the apps that have widgets you want. I will use MS Paint 3D as the paint/draw program as that's what I used. I used a Windows laptop because of the HDMI port for the projector, and to use Windows and Android systems all on one machine.

For more detailed instructions on how to use Bluestacks and Total Launcher, click here for my Smart Table Instructable, and scroll down to Step 13. This section is broken down into three steps.

So let's set up the UI and start the design.

1. On the TOPI laptop, open Bluestacks and then open the Total Launcher app. (You can either set Total Launcher as the default Bluestacks launcher, or just use it as an app you can open and close).
2. In Total Launcher, click and hold on all of the elements that are already there. When an element highlights, click the delete bin icon so you end up with a blank page. Click and then swipe across the screen to open other pages and clear them too.
3. Click on the 'Plus' (+) symbol in the top right corner, then click 'Widget'. Scroll down to 'Application widget', then scroll to the app you want. Some apps have more than one widget to choose from, so if you're presented with this option, choose the widget you want.
4. Again, some apps like 'Sun, Moon and Planets' will now give you an option to configure your widget such as choice of planets, refresh times etc. Choose your options then save this. If the widget does not have this option, you will see the widget on your launcher screen with a dotted highlight around it.
5. Click the center of the widget and move it to where you want on the screen and click and drag the sides of the widget to resize it to the size you want.
6. Continue doing this for all of your widgets leaving room to add some buttons later. Press and hold a widget will make it available to edit, and clicking on a black part of the screen our using the 'Back' button will turn this off. Use this edit feature to move and resize the widgets until your happy.
7. Now make sure Bluestacks is in full screen. There are two ways this needs to be done... the familiar Windows 'Maximize' option in the top right corner, and on Bluestacks itself using the 'Full screen' option on the far right side menu. Once in full screen, take a full window screenshot/screengrab using the 'Print Screen' key on the laptop. NOTE: If you have trouble using the 'Print screen' button with Bluestacks in full screen, you can come out of full screen then use the 'Print screen' button again, but this time drag the highlighter square around just the Total Launcher screen.

Top Tip:

Because Bluestacks has it's own screen capture option, using the Windows 'Print screen' option on windows sometimes has issues. A way around this is the use the free open source software called 'ShareX'. This works every time and is done by holding down the 'CTRL' key then pressing the 'Print screen' key, then dragging the highlighted square to the size or area of what you want to capture, then left click to capture it.

Now we have our widget layout saved as a screen grab, we will use this as a template to draw our UI background. In the pictures above you will find the last six are the finished UI backgrounds, the first two for the laptop (landscape only as that's all that's needed), and the last four are for the phone in both portrait and landscape modes.

1. Open up your draw/paint program, choose new project and insert the screengrab. Make sure that the only canvas there is, is the screen grab and now white borders or anything.
2. Draw your boarders, boxes or anything else you want with the colours you want around the edge of the screengrab and around the widgets. When you are finished, assuming your main background colour is black, select the 'Box' tool and draw 'filled' boxes (black border, black fill) over all of the widgets so you're only left with the drawings you made.
3. Now with the spaces you left for buttons, draw the button designs you want to fill the spaces, and make enough for the amount of apps/websites you will use and make some spare buttons in case you want to add more (see Top tips below). Then select 'Save as' and name it "Day Mode".
4. With the new launcher background still open, select the paint 'Fill' tool, choose the colour red, then click on the borders, boxes and buttons to change their original colours to red. Use different shades of red for different areas if you like. Then click 'Save as' and name it "Night Mode".
5. If you made the backgrounds on a different PC, transfer them to the TOPI laptop.

With the backgrounds made, we'll finish setting up the UI.

1. In the Bluestacks launcher page, find and click on the 'System apps' folder and click on 'Media manager'. Click 'Export from Windows' then select the two background files.
2. Now open Total Launcher then press and hold on an empty space until the page shrinks down. Click on 'Edit Off' to toggle it On and while at this stage click on the middle square icon (looks like a little mountain) and click on the landscape picture. Click on 'Image' and then the Plus (+) icon, Find your Day Mode background pictures under 'Recent' and click on it to add it to your Total Launcher picture library. Then do the same to add the Night Mode picture.
3. Click on the Day mode picture then select 'Stretch to fit screen' then name it "Day Mode". Scroll right or left to another blank page and add the Night mode background naming it "Night Mode". Then scroll back to the day mode page and click on it to bring the screen forward.
4. The widgets you previously added for layout will still be there and now surrounded with your background drawings. Edit the widgets to make small re-adjustments if needed.
5. Now click on the top right Plus icon, select 'Graphic' then 'Text' then 'Default' then drag it over to one of your background buttons you made. Resize it to fit over your button the click the cog icon at the top of the screen. Here you can name it to the website or app of your choice, change typeface, text colour and size, and more.
6. When you have saved your text changes, click on the Play icon. Here you click on 'Action' then 'Launcher action' then scroll down to the bottom and click 'Open URL' Now write or paste in the website URL of your choice, click 'OK' and then the back button twice to close the element editor. You can follow this stage to add an app by clicking 'Action' and then 'Application' and choose the app you want the button to open.
7. Follow the above stage to add all of your buttons. You can also add text elements like I did to show what widget does what. You can use these just as text elements without adding any actions, or you could add the text in your paint program. I prefer not to do it this way just in case I decide to change a widget, then I can change the text too.
8. With your day made complete, click and hold on one widget until it highlights, the click on everything you just added, widgets and text buttons, then click on the overlapping pages icon (Copy) at the top of the screen to copy everything, scroll to your night mode page then click the Plus icon and select 'Paste'. This should now populate the night mode page with everything to make it look the same as the day mode page.
9. One optional extra thing you can do is use one of your spare buttons to swap between day and night mode without swiping the screen/trackpad. on your Day Mode page, click 'Plus' > 'Graphic' > 'Text' > 'Default'> drag it over a button and edit the text, then click the cog icon > 'Action' > 'Launcher action' > 'To a selected page' > 'Night Mode' > then click the back button twice. Do the same on the night mode page, but select "Day Mode" to open.

And we are pretty much done here. Best practice now is to back up your work. Click on a blank spot on any page, then 'Menu' then 'Backup center'. Click the plus icon to add a new backup of the launcher. If you like as a safety precaution, on the Bluestacks side menu, click 'Settings' then 'User data' and select 'Create new backup'. You can follow the above steps to add a matching UI to the Android phone, but without the need for Bluestacks.

Top Tips:

When making your background, I suggest using a black or at least a very dark colour as the main colour. This will help with your eyesight's night vision when your outside at night, and it gives a nicer effect in the dark through the projector.

And have a play about with Total Launcher. There is a lot of customisation you can do and it it a very stable app so you can have a lot of fun with it.

This is how to use your Android phone as a virtual camera on your Windows PC. This link should help you if you have an Apple computer.

1. Download and install Phone Link/Link to Windows app onto your PC and your phone.
2. Follow the on-screen 'sign in' instructions to link your phone to the PC.
3. On the PC, go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices > then toggle the 'Use as a connected camera' selection to 'On'. Now unlock your phone, then open the Camera app on the PC and you should see your phone name. If you don't click the little camera icon in the top right corner to switch cameras. You will then get a notification on the phone, which you need to tap on, asking to confirm you want to stream your phone camera to the PC.
4. You should now see the view from your phone's camera on the PC screen. NOTE: If you have trouble connecting, restart the PC as this normally helps.

And there we have it. I really enjoyed making the TOPI unit and equally enjoyed using it. But what was humbling and surprising was the amount of interest it has gained from friends ad their kids, so much so that I have received two orders to make a TOPI unit for a couple of my friends. They have said they are happy to pay me, but I said to just cover the material costs and the building of the units will be a gift from me as it would be a privilege to make them if it helps grow their kids interest in space.

One of my friends did ask for an addition to their unit... and that was to add a pull along handle and wheels which you can see a quick mock up design of in the above images. So at the time of publishing this Instructable, I am about half way making it that one. Although my one can be carried about, there is some weight to it so I may add some caster wheels to the bottom which then could be pulled along by the carry handle. I have also had another friend who told me he intends to follow my Instructable and build his very own, but said he may look at top mounting the telescope which was one of the ideas I initially played with. So that will be great to see and so pleased that he is going to make one.

When I finished building Project T.O.P.I, it was in the second half of the British summer and was lucky enough to get a few nights of some beautiful clear night skies and managed to get some fantastic views of the Moon as well as Mars and Jupiter with four of it's moons. I even managed to get a shot of the International Space Station (ISS), although admittedly it took a few attempts over four nights to get it. Although small and a little blurred, I am pleased with what I managed to see with a relatively small telescope, and I will be getting a larger more powerful telescope with it's own tripod and phone adapter which I will connect to TOPI to help see more objects and more detail.

If you do decide to make one yourself, please let me know in the comments as I would love to see it and what you have viewed with it. I hope that you found this Instructable helpful and inspirational, and if you have any questions, please let me know in the comments.

Many thanks for reading, and happy making.