Jetson TK1 enclosures v2.0 for Array Fire

A few weeks back a fellow from Array Fire contacted me about having a couple of enclosures made for his company’s upcoming attendance at the GTC (GPU Technology Conference).  Notice the lovely logo that’s been etched on the top of the enclosure, a nice touch.  This is version 2.0, since Array Fire didn’t need access to the SATA (through the top) or the GPIOs.  After a protracted USPS 2-day priority delivery ordeal (closer to 6 days) the enclosures arrived, here are some pics +Shehzan shot. 

Jetson TK1 Dev Board Enclosure v2.5

Here's a new, improved version of the enclosure.  More insets and cut outs to allow access to ports and sockets (GPIOs, SATA, Molex for SATA, etc).

Jetson TK1 Dev Board Enclosure

Designed and laser cut an enclosure for the Jetson TK1 development board.  This design uses:

• 1/8" acrylic plastic
• 1/16" acrylic plastic 
• 4 x(3mm x 60mm bolts and nuts)
• 1/4" diameter (1/8" bore) acrylic tubing  

first three layers

two upper layers

1/4" outer diameter, 1/8" inner diameter

acrylic tubes

finished with 3mm x 60mm screws

 Alternate Orientation

Details

Less smoke, no fire...

Having burned up a bunch of balsa yesterday I decided to actually make something today.  This is a prototype of an Me109 balsa flyer I've been working on.  I've been playing with making balsa plywood (see the non-engraved horizontal stabilizer), harder to cut but much stronger.

(laser cutter in action)

(the fuselage is going to be 3 layers of 3/32" balsa)

Alas I've run out of 3/32" balsa, I'll need to take a trip to the hobby shop to get more.

Balsa wood and concentrated light

Toyed with the laser and balsa wood today.  I think the pictures speak for themselves, the higher power settings blow right through wood, the balsa also has a tendency to catch fire which is exacerbated by the high flow rate exhaust fan.  I finally got the settings figured out for a variety of thicknesses (cutting with little or no burning).

(I had finally gotten the engraving settings right and figured full power for a quick cut and it'll be done. Alas, this was a flawed assumption)

(Surely, power 80 out of 100 would be the right setting for this engraving job, NOT!)

(The best of the lot, the cockpit was too finely detailed and burned)

(Another almost there piece)

Laser up and running...

So, at long last, my dream of in-home rapid prototyping is realized.  After much work on the laser shed, electrical, ventilation and data have been run.  Defective water cooling pump replaced with superior pump of greater reliability.  Here are some pix of the laser and an engraving job that I ran on it to get a feel for its capabilities.

(yes, a box with a laser tube in it)

(behold it will cut circles...)

(the obligatory Dark Sol logo) 

Block lifter V0.3

At long last I've finally started getting parts glued up.  This version includes a slot interruptor to prevent the damn thing from damaging itself.  Still ended up doing lots of grinding and cutting on this revision.

(glued parts, bread boarded circuits and a hacked servo)

(block V0.3 getting glued up)

You get what you pay for...

(image included for visual interest)

For this project I purchased a drill press accessory for my trusty Dremel.  It's less accurate than I was hoping it would be, unfortunately the Dremel is light weight enough (and spins at between 5000 and 35,000 rpm) that the drill bit has a tendency to wobble and flop around.  This lead to some imprecise drilling today; in places where precision is important I'll have to fudge things with larger holes and some extra epoxy.  In light of these facts I'll be redesigning many of the parts to make the assembly process simpler and faster (with larger alignment dowels / rods).  Much of the design complexity was due to channels I made for screws and shafts, I'm now thinking life can be simplified (and made more accurate) with a drill template for each piece.  A real drill press would probably help as well. 

The Epoch of Epoxy...

The past couple of days have consisted of using a variety epoxy based adhesives to stick small bits of wood together.  Behold the result of JB weld, slow setting epoxy and fast setting epoxy...

In terms of adhesives I like the consistency and strength of JB weld, but it's ugly as sin where it oozes out on to the wood.  The fast setting epoxy (5 minutes) seems to set too quickly for the applications I am using it for.  The slow setting stuff is generally a nice compromise, but it's not tacky enough for some situations.

When the glue age comes to a close it'll be time to move on to drilling out the parts...

Think this design is intricate enough...

I have a feeling I'm going to need to redesign this particular part for the main prototype.  Laminating these parts is pretty time consuming.

Laser Cutter = AWESOME!!!

First of all, I'd like to thank the guys at the WiESEL group again for the use of their laser cutter, you guys rock.  +Andrzej F thanks for taking the time and lending your expertise to help me get the cutting done.  The cutting went really well (with the exception of me forgetting to include a part on the 1/8" sheet of wood, gotta go back an cut that part tomorrow).  Now the work of gluing and bolting it all together starts.  I loosened up the part tolerances (from what I've done in previous projects), it makes things easier to fit together, BUT in some cases I went too far and aligning the pieces while they're setting up (with glue) is going to be a pain.  Check out some of the videos and pictures of the cutting process and results.

(the first 1/4" sheet of plywood)

(the 1/8" sheet of ply wood, faster to cut)

(The outer portion of this prototype assembly)

(The rack and pinion, hope the hold together during testing)

(The block itself)

 

Parts, parts, parts...

Almost done with designing the parts to be cut by the laser cutter. Got time scheduled on Thursday.