PilotAware
British Forum => General Discussion => Topic started by: rg on October 09, 2015, 11:53:34 am
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Just added this so as not to distract another thread....
Thank you for your reply. I have no experience in this area at all. If I have a prototype can it be scanned into a CAD program for printing? This would make it easy to reproduce.
I'm getting out of my depth now
No problem - if you post up some pictures of the completed prototype case - sounds like you're building it by hand - I'll ask you for dimensions of specific features and see if I can recreate it in OpenSCAD. There are 3D scanners which can digitise existing objects, but a) I don't think they work well with objects that have significant internal voids and b) I don't have one.
Probably scope for a thread on enclosures as I think we've hijacked the Regulator and ARF topic enough now!
Its possible to generate 3D meshes from photos....
http://www.123dapp.com/catch (http://www.123dapp.com/catch)
https://memento.autodesk.com/about (https://memento.autodesk.com/about)
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OK, as promised here is photos of an alternative enclosure for PilotAware. There is a little bit of work to do to make everything fit together but there is no soldering involved.
With this enclosure 3 of the 4 mounting lugs are removed along with the 3 of the smaller mounting lugs on each side of the box. Leaving just one.
The Raspberry PI B+ Has to have the four mounting holes very carefully drilled out to 3.3mm to accept the 3mm plastic screws. The screws are bonded to the bottom of the case with 90 second epoxy (Local DIY Store) using the PI B+ as the template, ensuring it is as far back as possible and the SD Card can still be removed.
After the glue has set slide the Raspberry PI B+ from the 3mm screws, first marking the position for the USB Power slot. Once happy with the power slot carefully plot the end plate and file the plate so it will slide over the SD card when it is in the Raspberry PI B+ This will allow it to be removed for updates.
Now the fiddly bit. Plot the location of the two antenna outputs on each end of the case in the end plates. and drill with a 6mm drill. I found it easier to first drill with a 3.3mm drill first to check the correct location. The end launch is the tricky one. Some trial and error is needed here. To make a good fit the hole had to be open up to countersink the nut for the SMA Launch, so a plastic washer is added to the rear and bonded in place.
Small extension are used on the ADS-B receiver end to convert to a SMA connector. This will allow for the development of better antennas. The Small antenna in the picture is on the ADS-B receiver and works OK and will provide limited coverage of the ADS-B to your tablet device.
The GPS and the ADS-B receiver have had there cases removed and the ADS-B receiver runs a lot cooler without it.
Make sure when you screw the top onto the case you just use the one remaining fixing hole and don't put the screws through the wrong hole or you will damage the PI B+ Electricians tape can be used to seal the edges after the box is closed.
Please follow all CAA and LAA protocols for safety for you and your aircraft. Do Not get distracted, and for testing let your passenger do the testing. (FLY THE AIRCRAFT FIRST)
The Case used is:
http://www.rapidonline.com/Mechanical-Fastenings-Fixings/Hammond-1593XBK-Instrument-Case-GPABS-140-x-66-x-28-Black-30-2116
You will need the following too.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SMA-Male-to-MCX-Male-Jack-Straight-Coaxial-RF-Connector-Adapter-/191638005793?hash=item2c9e83e821
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121774778279?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/250882040614?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/361362426353?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201349905111?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251145983389?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
http://www.charge4.co.uk/pilotaware.html
I hope this helps in tidying up the PilotAwre box
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I like it
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This does look so much nicer and robust. Couple of questions
1) Will the GPS dongle also fit into the same enclosure. My ublox dongle is longer than the ADS-B receiver.
2) Is black the best colour. Sitting on top of the coaming means it does get quite hot. I've used a white box which should help. Currently, the only indication that it might have overheated will be when GPS signal is lost.
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This does look so much nicer and robust. Couple of questions
1) Will the GPS dongle also fit into the same enclosure. My ublox dongle is longer than the ADS-B receiver.
2) Is black the best colour. Sitting on top of the coaming means it does get quite hot. I've used a white box which should help. Currently, the only indication that it might have overheated will be when GPS signal is lost.
1) The picture are a little small, but yes the U-Blox7 is in the box it just has no outer shell it needs to be removed and is mounted in the top center USB slot
2) There is a Gray box and a transparent blue box from the same suppler. I agree, in summer the light gray could help keep the sun's heat at bay. This is the first box built like this and further test will reveal the outcome. May be a Fan could be added, this will need power from somewhere.
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Very nice. I just took my device for its first flight. I knocked my ads antenna putting it in a/c (not hard). And the dingle exploded. ..gggrrrrr
So will try and copy your setup but maybe with thinner nylon screws so I don't risk screwing up my pi board
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I'm going to work up a couple of designs for 30 printable enclosures. I'll post something in the next week or so.
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I'm going to work up a couple of designs for 30 printable enclosures. I'll post something in the next week or so.
rg,
That would be fantastic.... Just one thing, It may need to be a few mm shorter or where the ARF end Launch is mounted needs to be recessed. Also as with the design above, an improved way of screwing the two halves of the case together.
I will be very interested in the end result.
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This is the kind of thing I'm thinking...all snap fit with dongles safely inside. i'll wait and see whats going to happen with the ARF first
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/32900272/pilot%20aware%20case.PNG)
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Your Design looks great.... It seems we are thinking along the same lines. Yes I would wait to see the outcome of the ARF first to see if a replacment will fit into your design., it may need tweaking
Well Done.
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Thinking about this mounting box and the new transceiver equipped daughter board, is it possible to obtain a measurement from the end of the USB socket to the inside edge of the casing where the transceiver SMA connect needs to butt up?
This will enable a Pi to be fitted into the Hammond casing now ahead of the new boards in February time.
Many thanks
Dave
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I like the idea of the USB bits not able to jiggle out ( esp during aerobatics! ) but would imagine you get a lot of heat build up inside such a case ( ? )
Makes me start to think about the idea of adding a small fan to the design ( ? )
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I like the idea of the USB bits not able to jiggle out ( esp during aerobatics! ) but would imagine you get a lot of heat build up inside such a case ( ? )
Makes me start to think about the idea of adding a small fan to the design ( ? )
Hi Ian.
The heat build up is not too bad at normal operating and has no effect on the system at all. I intend to do an extreme heat test later with the new transmitter. (Reproduce a hot sunny day in the desert. (Fan heater))
A small cooling fan would be a good thing but it needs power from some where!!! I have removed all the outer casing on the ADS-B and GPS receivers and they do operate a lot cooler. I have also added a SMA connection to the bottom of the supplied ADS-B antenna. Also replasing the end of the case with a copper plate this is now the ground for the antenna, this is acting like a heat sink too, it seams to work very well and looks neat too.
Picture below.
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I like the idea of the USB bits not able to jiggle out ( esp during aerobatics! ) but would imagine you get a lot of heat build up inside such a case ( ? )
Makes me start to think about the idea of adding a small fan to the design ( ? )
I think some drilled or Dremmelled slots in the upper and lower sides of the casing would assist venting, possibly in the end plates as well, similar to the black standard Pi cases.
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Definitely looks good :)
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I know this is for the Raspberry Pi Zero....but I love how simple this guy makes it look to 3D print a case
Perhaps we should ask him to design us one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnS80vaDuq0
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The unit I modeled is coming out at around £30-40 to have 3D printed and even more to have printed in ABS. While this might be OK for a one off prototype I think its way too expensive.
A bespoke snap fit enclosure like this (X=60.00 Y=140.00 Z=25.00) would cost a one off fee of £195 for design to have stand offs and cut-outs inserted then unit costs of less than £12 (based on 25 units) and as low as £7.
(http://www.electronicase.co.uk/c/18-category_default/plastic-enclosures-ec10-1xx.jpg)
Alright if enough people want to enclosure to protect the dongles hanging out of the pi.
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Rg.
I agree too expensive. But Good idea. Your second option looks more promising. Can you dicribe the standoff a little more please. Will the standoff fit the holes in the Pi board and allow the enclosure to be screwed together? You mention cutout? Is this for the power supply use plug?
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Hi rg,
email sent ! This looks like something that PilotAware Hardware could help with, we have a 3D printer the project can use for prototyping. We also have some contacts to have bespoke cases injection moulded at reasonable cost. (cheaper than above)
I've dropped you a line by email, everyone has been working flat out on getting the technical parts working, maybe we could look at bespoke cases now, in the spirit of PilotAware, we could do it collaboratively and come up with the perfect case !
regards
Dave Styles
PilotAware Hardware.
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Rg.
I agree too expensive. But Good idea. Your second option looks more promising. Can you dicribe the standoff a little more please. Will the standoff fit the holes in the Pi board and allow the enclosure to be screwed together? You mention cutout? Is this for the power supply use plug?
Standoffs would allow the pi board to be screwed down. The enclosure snap fits together without screws.
Cut outs would be to allow pi ports to be access etc.
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That sounds great. Put me down for two please.
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The unit I modeled is coming out at around £30-40 to have 3D printed and even more to have printed in ABS.
That does seem way over the top. The case I've put together weighs in at 75g, and at the price I'm paying for PLA and ABS (£18 a kilo - cheaper filaments are available) it that comes in at £1.35 a pop, plus whatever electricity the printer uses in the process. Obviously, I've probably printed off a kilo or so in prototyping, but once you've got a workable design the cost of the 3D printed item is nowhere near £30-£40.
For those that are interested, I've put the OpenSCAD source files and STLs for the case here:
https://github.com/rollingcircle/packapaw
Basically, the idea was to swap out one of the USB ports in the Pi with a header, remove the cases from the DVB and GPS dongles, and mount them inside the case wired directly to the headers.
The base is pretty much a generic B+ design, with the second USB port blocked off...
https://github.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/blob/master/packapaw_base.stl
..the lid has voids for the antennas, and mounting brackets for the two modules...
https://github.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/blob/master/packapaw_top.stl
The DVB dongle mount clamps at either end, leaving the board in free air for cooling - I haven't really had time for much testing, but running it on the bench for an hour or so the lid over the dongle only became faintly warm.
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/master/images/001_Orange_PLA.jpg)
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/master/images/002_USB_Header.jpg)
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/master/images/003_Fitted_Modules.jpg)
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/master/images/004_Wiring_Connected.jpg)
(https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rollingcircle/packapaw/master/images/005_Exterior.jpg)
I did notice the GPS was rather less sensitive in there with the ARF powered up, but being next to the ARF is probably a GPS module's equivalent of sticking your head in a speaker stack at a Motorhead concert.
The OpenSCAD source and the STLs are up on GitHub under the Creative Commons license, so you can do what you want with them.
The case needs a bit more work - the tapered capture in the bolt holes is a bit abrupt, so currently difficult to screw the halves together tightly.
So, if you needed another reason to get yourself a 3D printer for Christmas, there you go!
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It's a much bigger volume and the commercial firms offering the higher quality materials seems to be going on overall size of part rather than just volume of material used.
I'm more interested in your usb port mod. What skill level is required to pull that off?
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It's a much bigger volume and the commercial firms offering the higher quality materials seems to be going on overall size of part rather than just volume of material used.
I'm more interested in your usb port mod. What skill level is required to pull that off?
Not sure why they would be quoting on sheer volume, unless your design required support material? A design with large unsupported features would require a multi-head printer and expensive soluble support materials, which would push the price up.
No particular skills required to de-solder the USB socket - a decent vacuum desoldering station helps, but ultimately you could do it with some solder-wick and a basic soldering iron. Those manual solder-sucker pumps are next to useless though.
The header pins are standard 2.54mm headers, but the spacing of the holes for the USB socket aren't exactly 2.54mm, so arranging them as 2x4 vs 4x2, and a bit of fine trimming of the plastic shroud is required. The cables use single vertical A-type USB PCB header to connect to the dongles.
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It's a much bigger volume and the commercial firms offering the higher quality materials seems to be going on overall size of part rather than just volume of material used.
I'm more interested in your usb port mod. What skill level is required to pull that off?
Not sure why they would be quoting on sheer volume, unless your design required support material? A design with large unsupported features would require a multi-head printer and expensive soluble support materials, which would push the price up.
No particular skills required to de-solder the USB socket - a decent vacuum desoldering station helps, but ultimately you could do it with some solder-wick and a basic soldering iron. Those manual solder-sucker pumps are next to useless though.
The header pins are standard 2.54mm headers, but the spacing of the holes for the USB socket aren't exactly 2.54mm, so arranging them as 2x4 vs 4x2, and a bit of fine trimming of the plastic shroud is required. The cables use single vertical A-type USB PCB header to connect to the dongles.
Just be careful about this mod and the potential affect on signal integrity. USB requires a twisted pair for the data wires, and it should also be shielded to prevent both ingress and egress of noise. There is a potential to quite easily cause corruption of the data on the USB. At the very least please twist the D-/D+ wires together.
The pinouts for this type of connector are a standard, the attached file is the layout for the Molex connectors I use in my chargers, FYI.
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I would stay with a longer enclosure an leave the Pi as it is. We are trying to make the PAW hardware user friendly, as most users will not want to start taking it to bits. Keep it simple and it will all be good. It all needs to fit together in one box, put the lid on and go fly.
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It's a much bigger volume and the commercial firms offering the higher quality materials seems to be going on overall size of part rather than just volume of material used.
I'm more interested in your usb port mod. What skill level is required to pull that off?
Not sure why they would be quoting on sheer volume, unless your design required support material? A design with large unsupported features would require a multi-head printer and expensive soluble support materials, which would push the price up.
No particular skills required to de-solder the USB socket - a decent vacuum desoldering station helps, but ultimately you could do it with some solder-wick and a basic soldering iron. Those manual solder-sucker pumps are next to useless though.
The header pins are standard 2.54mm headers, but the spacing of the holes for the USB socket aren't exactly 2.54mm, so arranging them as 2x4 vs 4x2, and a bit of fine trimming of the plastic shroud is required. The cables use single vertical A-type USB PCB header to connect to the dongles.
Just be careful about this mod and the potential affect on signal integrity. USB requires a twisted pair for the data wires, and it should also be shielded to prevent both ingress and egress of noise. There is a potential to quite easily cause corruption of the data on the USB. At the very least please twist the D-/D+ wires together.
The pinouts for this type of connector are a standard, the attached file is the layout for the Molex connectors I use in my chargers, FYI.
No USB data corruption observed as yet, but you're right - was planning on swapping those cable out with shielded items.
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Well I finally got the concept printed. First time having an object printed for me as I usually get things sintered so a little disappointed with finish and the object isn't quite precise enough to be used (screw holes not right size and cable ports deformed). The design works well enough but needs a higher resolution printer.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/mkv4md2f2iq1g2x/2016-01-30%2020.38.11.jpg?dl=1)
I think it might be more useful to look at a printed part that can be inserted into an extruded aluminium off-the-shelf case
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Looks Good. Just needs tweeking...
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A slight evolution of the design....
The pi sits on standoffs with small lugs on the to locate the pi board. longer standoffs from the lid trap the pi onto them and the lids is screwed to the base from the below using countersunk m2.5 machine screws.
A couple more small tweaks to make to improve the installation of the pi and allow a usb gps on extension cable out through the case and I'll post the STL files.
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/766h3f2j6i8fn4o/2016-08-27%2011.27.11.jpg?dl=1)
(https://www.dropbox.com/s/d0sq03vvg7gebmn/2016-08-27%2011.27.33.jpg?dl=1)
There is a disadvantage in having to open the case to access the ethernet or usb ports for software updates (though the sd card can be accessed externally) but for me this outweighs the advantage of having a single robust unit that I can take in and out of different aircraft.
I don't use the GPS dongle but case is large enough for one. Instead opted to use collisionaware/nmeagps route and so this case stays in my bag. usually behind the p2 seat with the 1090 antenna sticking up vertically and the tuned low profile antenna gets stuck to the rear windows with slot head suction cups acquired here http://www.suctioncupsdirect.co.uk/ (http://www.suctioncupsdirect.co.uk/) . The only cable to sneak between the seats in the audio lead to plug into my headset.
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I like what you are developing ;D when you have perfected it put me down for one.
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Any more updates on this?
I have just got a PAW and started to look for a box to put the complete classic unit into.
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I posted an update on this thread
http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,702.msg8653.html#msg8653 (http://forum.pilotaware.com/index.php/topic,702.msg8653.html#msg8653)