Electronics > Projects, Designs, and Technical Stuff

When finally be there one for all hobbyist desktop FormFactor ?

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unitedatoms:
I mean when can I stop thinking about mechanical aspect of placing a 2D board into 3D real enclosure ? Similar to Eurocard standard, Music synthesizers tradition, or Kamak or LXI chassis or old PC style but smaller, to fit on our shelfs and tables.

I envision a shallow 300 mm deep horizontal enclosure 100 mm high and may be 200..400 mm wide. With vertical slots populating a simple 50-100 pin backplane, and metal front panels with all the knobs, connectors, LEDs, buttons. It should have a variety of integer multiples of widths from say 20 mm to 100 mm. Well agreed upon pinout of backplane. Backplane can be just a flex flat cable based on IDC female connectors. And someone will sell plugin DIY kits for power supplies, control CPUs, USB, TCP bridges, screens with real bezels, etc.

It should be available at 2 (or low 3) figure dollar costs per enclosure kit, or component or kit for building a slot member. Or barebone kit with ~20..40..60W power supply and choice of favorite controller with debugger and AC power cable included.

.. When ?

james_s:
For what type of projects? I don't think backplanes and plug-in modules are common anymore outside of certain areas like the modular synths you mention. Certainly most of my projects are a single PCB and maybe a power supply or display module in a box. I like the clamshell style desktop enclosures, Pac-Tec makes a series of them as well as other manufactures.

What I wish is for the multitude of Chinese sellers offering enclosures and protoboards would get together and make boards that actually fit the enclosures with screw holes that line up with the bosses in many of the boxes.

mariush:
I'd be fine with enclosures which can fit an ITX motherboard (170x170mm)

I feel like it's time we move on from IDC headers though, and anything imperial (ex 0.1" pitch headers). Maybe we should move to 2mm or 2.5mm, or 0.5mm/1mm flex strips.

The ITX reuses the atx standoffs, but the distance between center of holes is 132.08mm if my math is right, which should be close enough to 132mm.. just make the screw holes a bit bigger than unc 6/32 and maybe use m3 screws and standoffs and you'll have enough play to handle both.

unitedatoms:
@james_s:
I'd define this type of projects as "playground builds with chance of becoming permanently useful". Mostly for software/firmware minded people with no mechanical experience. Power supplies with digital or analog controls, acquisition boards, low cost lab test and measurement designs, may be somewhat non-demanding RF, or real RF with metal boxes placed on plugin boards and coax jumpers running from plugin to plugin on front panels, standalone or headless Spectrum analyzers, Scopes, CNC controllers etc. Anything bigger than single naked board or Arduino with one shield.

Even for Arduino, those 20 or so pins can be reserved forever for Arduino to keep it acceptable as main controller if user prefers.

@mariush:
I am not mechanical experienced. I only have an instinct, that boards should have only one or two strong constraints for dimensions, not all 3. Say the thickness is between 1..2mm, height is always 100 mm. Length is anything up distance to front panel (0..300 mm). Eurocard allows a rigid inserts and crews for plugins. But it forces user to make design full sized. What If I only need 100x100 mm. Then my front panel (piece of metal with knobs) can have just wires in air reaching an edge of a board.

IDEngineer:
"The nice thing about standards is that there are so many different ones to choose from."

Or, in cartoon form:

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