Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
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uze6666
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Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by uze6666 »

I'm opening this thread to post progress on my first enclosure. After a slow start in 3DSmax (I was pretty rusty!), progress picked up and I came up with to designs. Hopefully they look retro, somewhat reminiscent of classic consoles but with a unique touch. Not sure I will be able to make the one with the SD card on top, but it sure looks cool!
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Here's my first mockup of the bottom part of the enclosure. That won't be the final color don't worry, just some filament I use for test prints!
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The idea will be that it fits perfectly the existing red/black PCB I was selling in the past 2 years. Additionally, there should be no need to desolder anything, hopefully not even the LED since I have some transparent PLA plastic to "drive" the light.

I was refraining of posting renderings right now to not raise expextations too high and because some parts of the design will probably change when I hit limitations of the 3D printing technology. But the hell! Worst case someone can take the 3D model and have it printed top quality at Shapeways or other similar outfit. :)
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

Alec has a secret talent he has been hiding. Very fitting design, I love the first one especially-its just so right. The bottom looks good, are just worried about the ridges in back being trouble? If you print me that one, Ill finish it with a dremel if I have to!
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by nicksen782 »

I would get one right away!

Would all ports be accessible (such as the ISP header?)
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by uze6666 »

Would all ports be accessible (such as the ISP header?)
Yes all, except the MIDI port on the side. I was wondering what to do with the "soft power" switch. I left it out since no one ever used it.
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

It would be nice to keep the function of the second button though I don't know why it's required. I never considered it mine to use because I thought there was some planned use for it from long ago that hadn't been implemented yet. It would be nice to turn the uzebox "off", that is the kernel checks for it and just turns off video and sound output then enters a forever loop that checks for a re-press to break out and do a reset. Better than unplugging the power supply each time :|

I don't know how the mechanics will work to harness a push in the center over to the button on the side. Definitely need some rails to keep a sideways Z rod in place which might add complication. If you kept both buttons and put them directly over where the momentary switches actually are on the pcb I think you could get away with something a lot simpler to make that just fits around the actual MS square body.
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by uze6666 »

Powering off the console was indeed the goal of that button. But I made the mistake of not implementing it right away in the kernel so almost no games would work. Something I worked on last year was adding it to the bootloader code and enable the interrupt there. That way it overrides the games, but it was spotty and would not always wake up for some reasons. Plus it still consumes some power. So I don't know. I was to simply wire the reset switch on the case on the reset pin of the extension header. I also preferred the aesthetic of a single button. But your idea is interesting so I'll make some tests.
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by uze6666 »

Lee's the man! Following his idea, I did a couple design iterations and I think we can reconcile both looks *and* functionality :D.
Image
I'm trying diferent colors for the buttons based on the filament colors I have. Let me know what color scheme seem better to you guys. The blue of preceding snapshots is great since it contrasts with the orange of the logo. That gold color fuses well with grey and the logo too.
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by uze6666 »

Above renders were just mockups. I modeled the top part correctly...now let's see how it prints!
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

Post by D3thAdd3r »

I'm excited to see how this turns out; how long does something like that take to print at high detail?
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Re: Uzebox 3D printed enclosure!

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D3thAdd3r wrote:I'm excited to see how this turns out; how long does something like that take to print at high detail?
Don't hold you breath. At .1mm layer, the medium resolution, this will take ~3 hours at best and in my case 8 hours since I print slower to get better quality. The thing is, because the corners have fillets, it has to be printed like the right picture in the above post. Otherwise, if the enclosure top is printed on the build build plate (which is heated) it's very hard to get good quality because of the nature of the process (the layers will sag and don't give a nice finish).

Anyhow, then you need support structures in order to print the top of the case. And this support structure take more than half the print time. And a lot of material too that will be discarded. Next shot is of the software used by the Ultimaker named Cura. The nice thing is that the support structures are automagically determined by the software. :)
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The higher quality I can get out of the ultimaker is about .06-0.025mm per layer and this will take probably up to 12 hours to print! But it will be worth it hopefully.

It's on and we'll see in 8 hours how it looks...
Image

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