Motorized Madness

As many of you know, I just finished my Water Cooled Turbine Project. I have been designing a case to mount it to. Well the time has come to start this project. I am calling it "Motorized Madness". Simply put, there will be several panels on the case that will be motorized to reveal objects, fans, controls etc. Some panels will be hidden, and some will be obvious.

The most electronically challenging part of this mod will be to integrate all the motorization with a servo controller and have them automatically open on windows start and close on windows shutdown. I have already placed orders for some of the equipment I will be using such as a clear acrylic case,

I have begun the 3d model sketch to help layout objects and how everything is going to work. here are some screen shots.

Overall case with turbine mounted on top. Note, all doors and panels are in closed position.

Here is the case with the doors in the open position. you will notice there is a large round hole on the side of the case. That is actually a window that opens up to the case.

Here we see the round case window, a small temperature monitor that gets revealed by a panel that slides up, the front intake fan that is covered by 3 panes that rotate. A flip down accesory panel for the fan controller and switches, and the stealthed dvd tray.

Here are some other shots:

On the top of the front panel there is a door that hinges upward (Inside) that opens the channel for the air to the dual 120mm radiator.

The entire case is going to be covered in panels similar to the Turbine, however I won't have to run el wire as I did on the turbine because of the clear case. there will be cold cathode lights on the inside that will shine thru the slots and gaps in the panel that I build. This way I can have the openengs go around corners and have much more interesting patterns. In fact, most of the clear case will be covered. I will airbrush and paint the case similar to the turbine as well. Obviously more kit bashing and the industrial look is in order.

The round opening window will prove to be the most mechanically challenging portion of this project as I cannot find this item anywhere, I've only seen it in movies, so I wll need to build it from scratch.

Hope everyone likes my design, If you have any suggestions or ideas to make it better, please let me know.

I forgot to mention, I also ordered a dual 120 mm Danger Den Black Ice Extreme II radiator.

http://www.dangerden.com/store/produ...2&cat=5&page=1

I figured I'd need this to cool my video card.

here is the servor contoller I am looking at getting.
http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.as...&CategoryID=52
I'll have to wait untill payday to order it. but it has the ability to control up to 32 servos, with full postition and speed control. Programming it could be PITA though.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Luke122

That circular opening on the side is killer.. like the iris in a lens. Might be a p.i.t.a. to make, but will be super cool to see. :D

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Thanks for the term IRIS. I was trying to come up with what to call it, and you hit it on the head! +Rep to you.

here is a screenshot of the cad file I desinged to make it work

I'm going to make the framwork out of plastic sheet and the iris parts themselves will be laser cut out of thin aluminum. I think I'm going to add more blades than the 14 I designed. By addign more, I can make them thinner and therefore get a larger diameter opening without making the frame larger.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by BigJohnson

Hey Rendermandan. I just found your turbine project this morning. Now I'll be able to say I got in on the first post now.

On a different note. For the Iris. I was thinking about something that would work. But I forgot it by the time I got here. But an old style vegitable steamer that sits in the pan and has sides that fold still comes to mind. You could mod that piece and use some of the original design since it comes in a round shape to begin with. I hope that little bit helps.

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i believe you mean this...

my parents use one. i think he wants it flat so this would open up and stick out. also it would be harder to open and close that. i think the only way to use this would be with some cables pushing in and out. though it would be neat to hide a big red button under it, like a power switch.

Wow, I can tell you guys are really excited! The case and dvd burner should arrive today. I talked to my buddy who has the laser etcher about cutting out the parts for the iris with that. he said we could do it, but not untill next week. -I guess that gives me a little more time to refine the design.

Luke, you are exactly right on how this is designed, the pins toward the inside are the static pivot points and the ring around the outside is what rotates all the blades simultaneously.

Spawn, -I can see where you thought there were shutters for the radiator. that was actually the radiator fins that you saw in the pic. -I just didnt' model the all the fins. -I was planning to cover the outside with the large
round hole mesh I used on the turbine. But great idea though, I might have to look into that. :)

I should have some pics of the case up tonight, and hopefully get started on construction this weekend. Have to go buy some more sytrene first. -ALOT MORE!

Well, my wallet is now $200 lighter. -I just ordered the servo contoller, 6 servos, power supply and a bunch of hardware from http://www.lynxmotion.com/ViewPage.a...ntentCode=Home


here is the servo controller I ordered. It controls can control up to 32 servos.
-6 will be enough (right now).
http://www.lynxmotion.com/Product.as...&CategoryID=52

Man-I'm really broke now, and I still have to buy styrene.

ok, here is a revised drawing of the iris. I upped the panes to 20 and added the servo mount

The overall diamater of the entire structure is 12". this will give me a 8" dia opening when completly opened.

Not sure how much torque it will need. -Hopefully not alot.

Ok, here we go.

the case and dvd drive arrived yesterday. Last night I put the case together and started doing some work.

Here is the case, all tightly packed in this box. -This is how they actually shipped it to.

after an hour or so, here it is assembled.

Man, what a NICE case! this thing is gorgeous. every edge is polished and smooth. If anyone want to get a clear case and leave it clear, this is the case to get! -Its a shame to see it get cut up and mostly covered.

and just for a before shot, here is the case with the water cooling turbine on top:

When starting a project like this, its hard to figure out where to get started, so I decided to do some easy stuff first.

I cut off the mounting tabs for the front movable 120 mm fan bracket.

Then I used a cutoff wheel on my dremel and trimmed out the bottom of the front panel where the usb and power switches are usually.

The idea is to have the fan as low as possible.

I made a box to frame and set its depth. This box will help me to mount and form the 3 doors on the front.

Here it is with the fan:

Thats about it for now. I'm still waiting on about 4 packages that won't be here untill next week. Then I can really get started on this. Mostly right now I have to buy more styrene plastic and wait on the hardware.

Later!

Sorry to keep you guys in suspense, I've been working on the Iris this weekend and have been getting frustrated. Its not turning out to work very well. I'll have some pictures and possible, If I can get it to work, some video of the Iris in action tomorrow. It takes too long to upload a 10mb file from my home computer, So I'll updated tomorrow from work.

Just so you don't get your hopes up, Its not finished yet, and It may never be, you'll see why tomorrow. :mad:
I may have to redesign it, or come up with a different window mod.

ok, here's whats been happening. This part is good!

I finished making the doors for the front intake fan.

Here they are opened.

and the back side to show the hinges:

Then I made the mechanism at the top to open them:

I'll have to hold here till my servos come in today.

NOW, here is the start of the IRIS.

(20) Identical vanes.

I laid them out on a patter to get the feel for things.

Then I cut out and made the mounting plate:

Here are the vanes on the mounting plate:

Then I made the movment ring:

Here you can see it all assembled:

here is a closeup of the pins

here it is opened:

Here it is closed: THIS IS WHAT I'M PISSED ABOUT!!!!

It doesn't close correctly. there are huge gaps! What I've found, even after about 3 hours of adjusting the hole locations, is that everything must be identical and perfectly aligned, with no slop or play whatsoever. everythign was hand cut to the best of my ability to get them exaclty the same, but even the slightest offset or hole drilled sligtly incorrectly, will cause this. Everything has to be too perfect to make this work.

here is a video so you guys can see it in action.

I'm not sure where to go on from this point on this part of the mod. I may have to redesign the whole thing from how many vanes to the actuall shape of the vanes and its size. Also, I may have to seriously look into having this laser cut out.

Today, I should get my servos and controller, so that will give me something to play around with for a few days. There is not point in building all this stuff if I can't get the servos to work, so I will concentrate on getting that setup for now.

Later, Dan

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MintyMadness

Render - Don't give up man! I'm sure we can brainstorm something between everyone here! Honestly, I don't have any ideaon how to improve upon what you have already made. I doubt I could even get it to the point it is now! Maybe you should find an old camera, and take it apart. study the shutter and see how it is constructed. Maybe if you made less vanes? What if it were 4 or 5 main vains instead of 20? That would at least leave a little more room for error (as in - not needing to be laser-accurate..)

-Jeremy

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Good suggestion Minty, However here is what happens with less vanes. The fewer vanes you have, the thicker they have to be to cover the gap from one vane to the other. So if they are real thick (wide) then when they open, they can only open as far untill they hit the pin of the next vane. This wil make the opening smaller because they are wider. That is why I went to 20 and they were very thin, I think I just have to find a happy medium between number of vanes and width to how large of an opening.

I have an idea about cutting a notch on the back side of the vane to fit around the pin of the adjacent vane though. I'm working on drawing that up
but I think I will still need the laser cutting. I actually isn't that hard to do, My friend is a teacher at a local high school, and they have a laser etcher that will cut through thin material. I might have to give him a call. They also have a rapid prototyper too. That thing is kick ass!

Thanks you guys, I talked to my buddy with the laser etcher, he said we should be able to do it but in a few weeks. they are just getting classes started and he wanted to wait till things settle down. So for now, I'll just work on another part of it.

I got he electronics from Lynxmotion.com and I have to say, I'm very impressed. The shipping was very fast! The packaging was impecable. they used very heavy clear plastic bags that had every part I ordered sealed in its own "pouch" and very clearly labled. -Everything was accounted for and in good order. -I would recommend buying from them to anyone!

Here is the hardware I purchased: there is alot!

here is a usb to serial cable I ordered from newegg.

Here is the pouch of 6 servos that I orderd. here are the specs:
Speed: 0.23 sec/60° @ 4.8V
Torque: 4.4 kg-cm (61 oz-in) at 4.8V
Length: 38.8mm (1.52")
Width: 19.8mm (0.77")
Height: 36.0mm (1.41")
Weight: 40g (1.41oz)

I couldn't find specs for 6.0v which is what I'm running them at. so the torque and speeds are actually higher than listed.

Here is it all put together. You see the SSC-32 Controller, The serial to usb cable, a power cable with switch that plugs into a 6V wall adapeter that I didnt' show, and 2 of the servos.

Programming it was very easy and almost worked the first time around. it didn't because I had the baud rating set wrong, but once I changed a jumper on the board, everyting started to work like a charm.

I sat down and wrote 2 text files. one called open, and one called close.
it was simple 2 line code that simply told the servo where to go and at what speed. thats it.

here is the open code:

#1 P1500 S1000
#3 P1500 S1000

the close is basically the same only with different numbers.

then I wrote two batch files that I loaded into the local computer policy startup and shutdown scripts. that simply send the open and close text files to the com port.

thats it. when I start my computer and it goes into the welcome screen to ask for the user name and password, the 2 servos go to the open position.

then when I shut down, during the time where windows says "saving system settings" there is another one now called running scripts. And that is when the servos move to the close position.

What is cool about this, is I can have it completly automated to open and close all doors automaticaly without hitting anything.

But If I wanted to control something indepentantly, i could. all I have to do is write a .txt file and a batch file. then when i click on the batch file, it will do whatever I want it to. KICK ASS!!!!

I do need to give the good people over at lynxmotion a very large THANK YOU! for helping me get this running and figure all this out. here is a link to the forum Thread I started so they could help me.
http://www.lynxmotion.net/viewtopic.php?t=2710
If anyone has any questions about motorization or robotics, these guys should be able to help you, they were just as friendly as the people on this forum.

I'm so glad this works... Now, let the modding begin!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

should look great when you get some more of it together.

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Thanks, I've been holding off doing alot of building untill I was sure that the servos would work. I'd hate to go through all that work only to find out I couldn't motorize anything at the end. But now that I know the servos work like I want, I can really start to build all the parts.

the first part of the build, just like the doors and iris is going to be building all the moving parts, doors and windows, I will also work on mounting the 240mm radiator. then I will work on dressing everyting up and making it look good. and lastly, like everyting will come the painting.

Edit: WOOT!!!! 500th post!

Here is what I got done last night.

This is the servo and hardware to actuate the doors.
It includes 4/40 threaded rod, (2) ball ends, and (2) ball joints that will screw into the servo arm and object to be moved. the ball joints allow a full swivel and IMO are the best solution.

I cut a hole in the side of the drive support to allow the actuator arm to extend through to where I am going to mount the servo.

here is the servo mount I made:

and here it is installed:

after adjusting the length of the actuator arm, here it is in the closed position:

and opened position:

Then I started on making the frame for the flip down switch panel:

that is all I got done last night.
Later!

Last night I worked on making the flip down switch panel.

here it is in the closed position:

and here it is opened.

I then mounted it in the case:

You can see i used the drive mounting slots to mount it.
I also cut a notch to allow the actuator arm to extend into the space beside the drive bays for the servo:

Here it is in the case opened:

I cut a hole to mount the servo in the case:

Then I connected it with linkage the same as the doors below:

Opened:

Then I mounted the DVD burner above it. -ONLY I realized when I assembled the case at the start, I installed the drive rails upside down. So the screw slots did not match the drive. Oh well, since I only have 1 drive, I just drilled my own holes to mount the dvd burner.

Up next is the 240mm radiator mount, cut a hole in the side of the case for it, and making the louvered shaft for the air vent at the top. FUN FUN!!!!

Edit: I also gave a couple sample pieces of plastic to my friend with the laser cutter to test and see how hard it will be to cut out parts for the Iris. Keep your fingers crossed!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angelorus2000

hi,

i like so much the idea of the motorized IRIS. I have found a link i think will be usefull. they produce metal iris and they show in their web site how the iris work. You can see the design to improbe your iris.

http://www.wilkes-iris.com/flashIris/iris.htm

dont stop modding :twisted:

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Wow, Nice find! Those are some pretty cool Iris designs. I'm not sure exactly how some of them work. in all the examples the part that moves with the handle makes sense, but it passes over the top of another pin. -confused on that, How does a pin pass through the blade below it? and the other end seems to be free floating. I don't understand what makes it move the way it does. almost moves in a circular pattern. But nice find anyway. Thanks! +rep


As for the other suggestions. Thanks, I really appreciate your guys input. I have redesigned the blades so they have 3 times more overlap than before and will still yield the same size opening. I designed them wider so there would be more material that overlaps each other. that way it should account for the "Slop" in the pins. I am still going to laser cut them when I get back from a work trip on week of the 10th. I've been working on the radiator mount and fans for the top. I should have some pics up later tonight. I'm still undecided about the door for it.

Later!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by angelorus2000

i also see that the iris dont close at all.

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It is impossible to make one close clompletly due to the thickness of the material. at the center the more layers there are the hard the push against each other to form an overlapping circle. Think about it this way, if you were to lay a bunch of quarters in a circle and have the first one overlap the last one, then by the time you got around to the beginning, everyone would be slanted, or sloped (hope that makes sense).

Don't worry guys, I'll figure it out! That is a promise!!!!

Finally, an update! this is a big one.

I've been working on this the past few nights, so its more than just one's nights work.

I cut out a mounting plate for the radiator:

then I built the air box that will direct the hot air out of the case:

Here it is in the case:

Installed some fans:

Cut a hole in the drive bay mounting bracket so the air would flow throught:

Then I cut 14 louvers for the door:

here are the louvers in place:

Opened:

Then i cut and drilled a piece of plastic for the actuator arm:

closed:

Opened:

here you can see all the small pieces I had to make with the actuator arm:

I had to heat and bend the actuator arm to fit in the case:

I had to mark and cut an area out of the case to make this work:

and here it is sitting properly:

Closed, you can see the servo I mounted to motorize this:

opened:

Wow, only allowed 25 images per post. -That sucks.

Then I added some panels to cover the gaps in the front. The front will be kit bashed so having multiple levels and layers will work to my advantage:

Then I mounted the radiator to the fans:

Lastly I placed the side cover on to mark for the hole I have to cut. the hole will fit around the radiator as it sticks out of the side slightly. -this is intentional, I'm going to make a cover that goes over it and will be mounted to the side panel. but I want to make the side panel removable without having to take the radiator out.

here is a shot with the defunct iris approx where I'm going to install it. the Idea is to have the iris over the cpu area.

thats it for now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The boy 4rm oz

Mate that looks fantastic, all the hot air wont warm up the components, great idea. Is that Barbie I see on the T.V :0, You don't have a secret do you dan? lol

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LOL, I have no idea what that was. probably a commercial or something. my son was watching Sponge Bob Square pants while I was working. I don't really pay attention to what is on tv, I just have it on for background noise.

-funny that that caught YOUR interest though! :think:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by .Maleficus.

You're using styrene for most of the work now, right? Where'd you get it, locally, internet? Know of any hardware stores that carry it?

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Yes, I'm using Styrene, I've found that for anything that would require some type of structural integrity, I should use styrene. for the decorative stuff I'm going to use matt board, much cheaper and easier to cut!

I bought the sheets at a local place called Hobby town. They sell all kinds of modeling supplies as well as remote controlled stuff. planes, cars, trains etc.

FYI, I will be gone for at least 10 days. my work is sending me to Sunny SanFrancisco for a job. So untill I get back, sadly this will have to be put on hold.

Later!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by turis

I'm new to the forum bought saw your iris and had to post. I know in woodworking if we need identical peices we stick them all together and cut and sand it as one piece. I'm not sure if this is possible with styrene though having never used it

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That is a good point. In fact I have tried that method but what happens with Styrene is it the thicker the material gets, the hotter it makes the blade when you cut it, then at a certain point, it just starts to melt the styrene together, then you have a real mess!

Thanks though. and Welcome to TBCS!

Finally the long awaited update!!!


I picked right up where I left off.
Because the Radiator will stick out of the side of the case sligtly, I traced the perimeter of the radiator on the side panel. -Man working with clear material really makes this easy!!!

Then I cut it out.

And here it is on the case. You can see how much it sticks out.

The idea is to build a cover that goes over the radiator. but you can still remove the side panel without taking the radiator out. -That will make it much easier to work on.

Then I turned my attention to the hard drive mounts.
Here is the one that came with the sunbeam case.

I turned the case upside down. So your looking at the bottom of the case in this one. -I drilled some holes to mount the verticle drive sides to the bottom.

but I decided that I would never need 5 spaces. so to make some room, I cut them down shorter.

Then I simply screwed them to the bottom of the case.

here it is with a old defunct hard drive as a test fit. I have room for 2 drives.

Next up was the fan controller. Here is the one out of my current case:

I took off the bay cover I made earlier. and made a new on out of styrene.

The idea here is to have it motorize out of the side of the case in a tilting motion. The servo will be mounted to one side of the verticle arms.

here is the servo horn attached to the side piece.

And here it is on all together.

The last part I did for the night was to round off the bottoms of the verticle legs.

I still have to assemble it, mount it, cut the hole in the side of the case etc. etc.

Untill next time.... Happy modding :)

ok, here is another update.

I decided that I needed to remake the side bars for the fan controller. i shouldn't have rounded both ends. so i made these:

here they are installed on the fan controller. -I had to make them longer due to the sides, front and back because of the depth of the knobs and switches.

Then I made the mounting plate for the bottom:

I added some gussets for strength and to limit flexing of the mounts.

This is where it will go in the case.

Then I laid the side cover over it and drew an outline as to where the cut the panel:

here it is cut out. -the bottom of the panel is cut at an angle due to the motion of the panel. the top angles out, but the bottom angles inward.

here it is mounted with the side panel:

here it is angled out.

closed:

opened:

And here it is with the clear side panel mounted to it. -Its clear because I want light to be able to transmit through. but most will be covered.

That is one more motorized part done. Now its on to the IRIS and one other item. I have to include usb ports, a SD media card reader, and I'd like to include a water temperature gauge somewhere, but I'm not sure what to do to motorize it. anyone have any ideas? Ive got lots of room directly above the fan controller. I was thinking about a tube that motorizes out from the side of the case...
I was thinking about getting one of these: http://www.xoxide.com/thermaltake-t-...indicator.html anyone have any experience with it?

Later!

I placed my order for the Thermaltake temp monitor and a few 120mm turbine fans that I'm going to replace the fans in the turbine mod. They look alot more like a turbine than the ones I had. here are the ones I ordered. http://www.xoxide.com/aerocool-xtrem...000-black.html

Now I just have to figure out how I'm going to motorize the temperature monitor panel along with a sd media card reader and some usb ports. -Any ideas???? I'm open to any new ideas. I'm trying to do something different with each motorized item.

Thanks Spawn,

Sorry its been taking so long for an update. My Chron's flared up and I haven't been feeling well. But after another Cat scan and $80 in meds, I'm starting to feel better.... That is untill the next flare up.

So as promised, here is an update.

I measured and drilled 4 holes and mounted some stud in the back side of the drive rack. They are kind of hard to pick out in the picture but if you look close, you can see them.

These studs are to mount the servo controller.

I came up with an idea for how to motorize the temperature monitor, USB ports, Reset switch, SD Media card reader etc. -Basically, I wanted a panel that would move and be replaced with an identical panel only with the stuff mounted to it. I thought about haveing doors open, then pull back and have the panel exposed, or move forward, or whatever. Then I just decided to have a triangular panel rotate around that had the same size. So I started with 2 Equilateral Triangular pieces.

Then I found the center and drilled some holes.

I mounted a servo horn, just like I did for the fan controller.

Then I had to remove a large section of the drive bay support to mount the servo. here it is in its location (un mounted).

I then made 2 panels and glued it together. This is one side.

This is the "Back" side. Its left open to mount the objects and for wireing.

Then I made some servo mounts.

And finally mounted it to the case.

Here it is with the panel attached.

I still have to make a mount for the other side to pivot on so it won't Flop around.

Here is an overall shot of everything in the case. FYI Its lying on the front of the case.

Thats all I got done last night. It was getting late so I decided to leave off there.

Later!

I"m really glad you guys like it!!!! and thank you to all who have +repped me.


Small update today.

I built a small verticle support for the end of the rotating panel.

Then I laid the clear side over to mark out where to cut the openeing.

5 minutes later with a dremel, and Voila. an opening cut in the panel.

Here you can see it in the closed position with the panel on.

here you can see it with it opened partially. -Fully opened looks the same as it is when closed.

Then for lateral stability, I cut a small section of the scrap from part of the case that had one of those brass threaded inserts in it and glued it to the side. then I drilled and counter sunk a hole in the side of the case. This will hold the end so it doesnt move front to back.

and here it is with the screw in it.

Ok, that part is done. -I'm still waiting on my Temperature monitor that UPS says will be deliverd on Monday. I then can mount it and the the other stuff in the panel. Untill then, the only thing I really have to work on is the IRIS. but I'm still waiting on my buddy witht he laser cutter. I'm at his mercy so I don't know when that will get done.

I suppose I could start to work cleaning things up, mounting the power switch, switches in the front, remote dvd eject button, lights, mounting the turbine, painting, fan wireing, programing the controller, blah blah blah. Crap, I have alot to do!!!!!!!!!

Hey guys,

Just another small update today. I'm still waiting on that delivery so I decided to work the remote eject button for the dvd burner, and stealth it. I removed the cover off the drive and located the 2 solder joints that I needed to solder wires to.

I will hook these wires up to a switch located in motorized panel.

Then I cut a face plate for the front.
Here are the 3 pieces. the top piece is a spacer for the drawer.

Glued it to the front of the drive.

and here it is with the drawer closed.

and ejected.

Then I simply mounted it back in the case.

Currently it is still a rectangular panel, but I will add onto that later.


Thats it for now.

Finally my package arrived. I ordered a thermaltake temperature monitor and 2 turbine fans to replace the ones in the turbine. Man do they look sweet. They will really add to the "look" of the turbine! not to mention 2 of them on the radiator is going to push some serious air. 89CFM each. -I'm going to take the 2 thermaltake fans I have on there now and move them to the 240mm radiator in the case. then take those case fans (the sunbeam ones) and put on in the rear of the case. I also have another thermaltake fan to use in the front intake of the case. I wont' be able to get to it tonight because of Bowling so I should get to work on it tuesday night.

Today I placed an order for some black sleeving, a vandal resistand bulgin power switch and some water cooling fittings. I also had to get some servo extension wires for a couple of the servos. :)

Later.

lol, sorry. right now its 1:46 pm. -in addition to the IRIS parts, I'm working on some final layouts of stuff I'm going to have laser cut. Might as well get as much cut as possible while I can.

I have some good news and some bad news.

First the good news. here is an update on the progress.

Here is what I got in the mail yesterday. 2 turbine fans to replace the thermaltake fans in the turbine mod. and the Water temperature monitor.

I replaced the fans in the Turbine Mod. I think the fins really make it look more like a turbine.

Next are the electronics that I'm going to mount in the side motorized panel.
It consits of a SD Media card reader, USB ports and reset switch and the Temperature Monitor.

So I started to layout the placement on the panel.

then I cut the holes.

I then glued the media card reader and added some gussets for support to the back side.

Then I cut the switch board that came with the case kit to seperate the usb ports.

and I mounted them in the panel.

here is the back side.

next I de-soldered one of the reset switches.

and mounted it in the panel.

Here it is will everything so far.

and I reinstalled it back in the case.

I stil lhave to install a HDD light and some more status monitors like maybe the dvd activity light and others. -Not sure about the design of those yet.

The last small thing I did was mount one of the nose caps that came with the turbine fans onto a thermaltake fan that will become the intake fan.

Now for the bad news. The IRIS is not going to happen. Yesterday my Friend and I worked on getting the parts laser cut. Basically the machine is only a Laser etcher, not a cutter. Although it will cut through material, the time it would take and the number of passes would basically talk way too long.

there were 4 sheets total that needed to be cut. 2 sheets were .030 thick and 2 were .100 thick. We started with the .030 sheet. and after 20 minutes, it was only 1/4 of the way through the entire sheet. but that was just about 1/4 through the thickness as well. So if you run the numbers thats 80 minutes per pass X 4 passes = over 5 hours for 1 sheet. Now the .100 sheet is over 3 times as thick and would take all day to cut. so I'd be looking at around 3 days total of cutting. -keep in mind you can't tell it to run multiple passes, you have to tell it to send each pass after its done. I can't tell it to keep running all night long, and this is located at a High school on the other side of town for me. -So basically due to time restraints. I can't get the pieces cut.

Also, the piece it did etch. I noticed that the edges wern't smooth either. they were somewhat "Melted" from the laser. so I would have to sand everything down and I'd be back to where I started.

So my here are my 2 options. I can try and rebuild it from scratch and hope it works again using some other method of aligning the holes, or I can come up with a different idea to have a motorized cover over a window in my case that will still be cool, but not an Iris.

What do you guys think I should do?

small update. I got some more parts in the mail today. -power switch, sleeving kit, some elbow fittings, some servo extensions and some more hardware (nuts and washers).

I also picked up some clear printer sheets for making the button and switch iluminated labels.

FUN-FUN!

Ok, here is another update.

I worked on some of the labeling for the parts. I started with the fan controller. So I made a built a channel to enclose the leds.

Then I made the lables. Basically these are laser printed onto clear printer sheets with sticky backing. then I stuck them to a translucent piece of plastic.

here it is mounted in the panel.

and here it is lit up. I only connected 1 fan but you should get the idea.

and here it is back in the case.

Next I turned my attention to the Hard drive activity light.

This time I just cut an opening in the panel and installed the label behind it.

To illuminate it, I made a box with a hole in the back for an led.

Then I just glued it behind the panel.

While I was at it, I sleeved the led for the HDD.

Lastly, I worked on the front switch panel.

Using the same methods as before. here it is.

The center switch is the dvd eject button. I still have to install the other switches as soon as I take them out of my current case. :)

Later,

Hope everyone had a good Productive weekend. I did.

I added a "Logo" to the monitor panel.

and I installed the switches in the front panel. I still have to wire everyting up.

Then I turned my attention to the side panel where the IRIS was going to go. I decided to go with a different idea. One that starts to show you guys what the overall theme of this case is about. Its called motorized madness, and when I think of Motors, I think of gears. So to continue that theme, I figured I might as well have some moving gears in the case. So I drew up some gears and made a "quarter" gear that will rotate out of the way to reveal the window behind. Here is the drawing.

I cut it out using the scroll saw.

Then I drilled a hole and mounted the servo to the side panel. This will be the only thing attached to the side panel that will have to be "unplugged" when I take of the panel.

I added a thin sheet to the back side of the gear so it will hide the window.
here it attached to the servo.

From the back side you can see where the window will be. -There are 2 fan holes that will have to be closed. So I cut a small piece to fill in the Gap where the fan openenign was. and Cut out the window opening.

Then I cut a template and a piece of plexi to use for the window.

Here you can see the plexi window glued into position, and then on the front, I glued the trim plate. so you don't see the joint. This view is from the back.

Then to make it look more like a half gear, I cut out another one on the scroll saw for the bottome "Channel".

I added some sides to the bottom piece and glued it to the side panel. -Basically from the side, it looks like 1/2 of a gear, but the top rotates down into the "channnel" that is created .

Here is the side panel with everything closed.

and now with everything open.

I know alot of you are dissapointed that I coudn't get the iris to work. Believe me, I'm the most dissapointed. I tried building it 3 times and wasted about $40 in materials. but It just wouldn't close right. Every time It would be perfect in the opened position, and then get all screwed up when closed, or it wouldn't close at all. I gave a valiant effort, but at some time I had to say enough was enough and move on to a different idea. I hope everyone likes it. Its obviously a much simpler design and not as cool as the iris, but I think it ties to the theme of the case nicely.

So stay tuned. The moving panels and parts are completed, now comes the fun part of covering all of it, so you don't see it!

-Dan

Actually the labels were quite easy. I went to my local hobby lobby and picked up some clear printer label sheets with adhesive backing. -6 sheets for $10. then using photoshop I typed out the text and made a reverse image of it so the background would print black and not print the actuall lettering. Then I just printed them out and stuck them to a sheet of semi-translucent plastic. I think it was supposed to used to cut your own stencils. I got that at hobby lobby too. Then I just cut the shape to size and glued it on.

The black from the laser print looks pretty good. although i wish it were a little darker. you can kind of see through it a tada. but I can live with that. I also tried printing it twice to darken it up. but I had a hard time getting it to print in the exact spot each time. -Not sure how well it would do on an inject, or in color.

LOL, way ahead of you, here is one of my designs. The shaded areas would be windows or frosted windows as well!!! -Maybe now you understand why I started with an acrylic case?

Thanks to all of you!

I've been working on the gears.
Here is the first one.

I mounted it above the window opening and added a frosted sheet behind to give it that "translucent" feel. I also started to cover the panel where I dont' want light comming through. -Particularly around the radiator.

I orderd some mesh from MNPCTECH.com for the Radiator cover. -That should get here tomorrow.
Then I worked on cutting out some more of the gears. All that detail takes some time to cut out.

Thats it for now.

Thanks you guys!

-Wannabe, I'm using a scroll saw to cut all the gears. The holes are cut with drill bits and A stepped drill bit set.

Here is my progress over the weekend.

I covered the entire side in Thin sheets of styrene. I used tape to hold the piece there temporarily.

Then I laid out where the gears would go.

This process is the same for all the translucent gear parts.
-1st. I cut a circle slighly smaller than the gear.

Then I frost the plexi in that area.

Then I glue the gear over the top.

Here you can see that there are 4 gears, (holes) that will be frosted and the rest will be just decoration.

Here it is with all the gears applied.

and opened.

Next I worked on the cover for the Radiator.
I made some 1/2" tall sides to make a frame around the radiator.

Then I cut a top trim piece.

and I glued some Modders Mesh to the underside.

then I glued the entire thing to the side panel.

Remember, this panel is removable!
I still have to cut 2 more gears to go over the modders mesh as show in the sketch in a previous post.

Thats it for now. -Cheers!

Yeah, some of the gears are thicker than others. There are actually 3 different thickness there. Just hard do see due to the flash of the camera and that everything is the same white color. -I plan on painting everyting and the gears will stand out alot more once its painted. -It will follow my Turbine mod with the weathered and rusted look of an old machine. But thanks for your suggestion!

Sorry guys, Its been a few days and I haven't gotten much done. Been swamped at work and other stuff going on. so I just have a few pics today.

I cut out 2 more gears to go over the radiator.

then I just glued them on.

-Thats all I've gotten done. LOL. Sorry I know its not much, but hey, a little progress is at least some progress right?