at-sea case

[thingswithmovingparts]

ok, this will not be my first mod, it probably won't be my second mod either, maybe like third or fourth. i'm still trying to scrape together parts for my first one. but, here's the idea:

a PC for taking to sea for a looong time. my parents-in-law are leaving for a sail around the world in a year or two and i'd like to build them something reliable and sea worthy. some of the features i'd like to include are: low power consumption, integrated GPS and emergency beacon, connections for weather and nav equipment (and associated software), shock resistant, water proof and boyant (when closed), mostly water/shock resistant when in use.

i'm thinking that this just might be a practical application for submersion cooling in mineral oil. the system will have to be very stable, so overclocking might be out of the question, or at least kept to a minimum. this computer ideally will last at least 6-7 years of steady use for everything from nav/charting to email, so stability both of the software and hardware would be key, any suggestions on that front would be rad.

[Redundant]

That would be awfully hard to make yourself, IMHO.

You would be better off getting a premade rugged PC such as a Panasonic Toughbook (http://www.panasonic.com/business/toughbook/fully-rugged.asp) and, even then, I'm not sure those can be used in salty environments. But they are shock resistant and have GPS built in.

The emergency gear should definitely be separate. They should have an emergency beacon installed on the boat and life raft already, anyways.

[thingswithmovingparts]

i've seen "brief case" like watertight cases (http://www.watertightcase.com/products.html) made for emergency gear, i was thinking it could be built into something like that, maybe with some molded foam padding. you're probably right about the other emergency stuff, in fact they probably already have most of that, i just thought it would be neeto to include in the spirit of the theme. i also thought that a submersion cooled rig might also both cool the mobo etc. and protect it from water/salt. the part i was still trying to figure out was cooling/protecting the PCU, HDD, and moniter.

you're probably right, this is most likely out of my league (by as much as 20,000 lol), but i'm not ready to give up the idea just yet, because it would be really freakin' nifty.

[Spacehonkey]

I don't think this is completely impossible with a limited budget. I would look more at a safecase to cover the PC case. Instead of making the PC case water/shock proof just make a safecase that is. I would then pack the safecase to prevent the PC case from damage and make cable extensions to run from the PC case to disconnect plugs built into the one of the sided of the safecase. You then could connect your monitor, mouse, keyboard or whatever to the PC case through the disconnects on the safecase without ever breaking the seal on the case, exposing the PC case to the elements. The only major problem I can see with this is cooling but if you make a watercooled setup you should be good.

[thingswithmovingparts]

it has occurred to me that i could do a lot of the peripherals wireless, at least the kb and mouse. also i was just reading a nice article about SSDs. by the time i'm ready to build this they should be pretty viable, and getting cheaper, which would go a long way toward fixing the heat, power consumption, and shock resistance problems that will come with a traditional HDD.

the innards don't have to be totally water proof, that would be pretty hard. but if i can find ways that the occasional splash or sprinkle can get on there without a catastrophic failure that would be nice.

the whole reason this actually came about was while reading an article about submersion cooling i thought, what practical purpose could that possibly serve. the answer was a low power consumption, watertight cooling system. and why would you need that? "hey i know someone that could use that!" and here i am. i'm not totally married to the idea of the submersion cooling, but i think it could be a solution to many of the problems that would come with a sea-going PC, and it would be neat to see one that isn't just a mobo floating in a fish tank full of cooking grease.

[simon275]

My parents have a large sailing yatch which is fully kitted out by Raymarine. They are just going to use a laptop. A laptop has lower power consumption and is reasonably sturdy.

If you want a stand alone computer that uses little power the a small via board in a water proof case.

http://www.via.com.tw/en/products/mainboards/

Remember all computers need ventilation and a water proof ones means no holes so no waterproof cases.

[thingswithmovingparts]

Remember all computers need ventilation and a water proof ones means no holes so no waterproof cases.


right, which is why i thought the submersion cooling would be the answer to that. even if a sealed submersion system doesn't cool it well enough on it's own, a very small submersible pump, radiator, and fan could be installed so that the only electronic component that would ever potentially be exposed to salty atmosphere and humidity would be the fan. this set-up could be stored in the box when closed and side-by-side when operating, or positioned as such that it got enough air exposure when the box is open. it would be far less complex than a water cooled system (i think) and with the added benefits of no refilling, and no deterioration of the coolant. i'm sure there are other solutions to these problems that i haven't considered yet.

my concept is laptop-esque, i guess. i'd like everything to be quickly and easily stow-able in a single watertight safecase, as suggested by spacehonky. in fact i will likely use a lot of laptop components.

also, the innards don't have to be totally water proof during operation, just when it's shut-up in it's box. it would be nice though to protect as many of the critical components as possible in all modes.

on the one hand, they say that anything is possible when you don't know what you're talking about, on the other the more input i get on what might go wrong or what won't work and why, the better the case will be when i build it.

i gotta tell you, i'm a little surprised that modders are telling me to "just get 'em a lap-top". where's the fun in that?

[Redundant]

i gotta tell you, i'm a little surprised that modders are telling me to "just get 'em a lap-top". where's the fun in that?
Custom computers aren't exposed to the elements while in your house either.

Take, for example, the emergency beacon you wanted in the PC: if your craft was taking on water, would you want to find your 15-25 pound PC box/briefcase and stick that on a life raft? Or in a less dangerous sense: if a wave went over the bow of the boat and soaked the deck, the PC is toast while a notebook might still work.

A laptop would be easy to slip in between the supplies if they ever had to abandon ship. They will always use less power then even the mini via boards and, in the case if the Toughbook, being jostled around in the boat by rough seas won't destroy it.

How big is their boat by the way? (just curious)

[xRyokenx]

You could make a small, waterproof, enclosed case shaped like a laptop. Have it cooled by water with a small low power pump and have a radiator mounted somewhere, as hoses can go through the side of a waterproof case and not affect it negatively unless you forget to put sealant around it. I'd also have a touch screen as to eliminate the need for a mouse, and possibly for a keyboard too. Just an idea. Oh, and you'll want flash memory so as not to worry about having a HDD die on you.

[Luke122]

A submersion cooling system? Are you talking about enclosing the entire assembly in mineral oil or something? Tricky to build, messy, and potentially problematic in my opinion.

SSD's have already come a long way.. there are you 4gb ssd's on the market right now, which is barely enough for a Windows OS, but plenty big for most linux flavors.

As mentioned above, a small VIA mini-itx system with a 4gb ssd could be easy to cool (without submerging or liquid cooling), would draw very little power, and with no moving parts, would be shock resistant, wouldnt make noise or vibration, and could be mounted pretty much anywhere at any angle. Also, no moving parts means no mechanical failures.

Also, you can run small pc's on 12v DC power. Heck, you can even get a small touchscreen LCD (4.5" to 10") with touchscreen for under $200, and then all you'd need is a keyboard. If you got a bluetooth, foldable one, it would be water resistant, and cordless.

[xRyokenx]

Lol, Luke, we posted pretty similar posts at near the same time, lol.

/rambling

[thingswithmovingparts]

great ideas guys! i like where this is headed. not too sure about a touch screen, but that might be a usefull alternative to a mouse if i end-up with extra room in the budget. that's kinda weird that you mentioned the foldable keyboard, i thought of that in the middle of the night last night. i didn't know they came in bluetooth. i was going to look for an ir one but bluetooth would be better.

with the submerged case i was thinking with a good, established, stable mobo (with integrated vid and aud, instead of cards) i could just seal it up. and the only reason i was considering it over the water-cooled is cost. the idea is a home-built enclosed/sealed mobo tray (plexi?) filled with mineral oil. i thought this would be cheaper since there are no water blocks and very little tubing/fittings, a very small pump, and a small rad/fan.

i've got a sketch-up on this but it still sucks, and i haven't figured out how to upload it yet. also i can't figure out how to do cables in sketch-up (this is my first 3D drawing program, and i just got it today).

[xRyokenx]

A wireless mouse and keyboard wouldn't be that bad, but have an alternative too. You could have a USB port inside the waterproof area with the little USB key. But yeah, go nuts with it, I'm interested to see what you come up with, I think I'm done brainstorming for now as everything around here is going nuts.