JohnSwenson wrote: > This is the point at which things like a nice looking case etc. get > designed. At this point it is ready for general use and can be bought by > anybody. Exactly how this is going to be done has not yet been > determined. It might be a fully finished boxed up product or it might be > a kit (board and box, you put the board in the box and tighten the > screws) > > John S.
John, I may be able to help find someone that would be willing to do ID/surface files for little to no cost (I work with several ID houses, so I know quite a few designers). When you are ready to start that leg of the project, send me a PM. Off the top of my head, I see four options for the housing: 1. Production housing like the current SBR or similar. Advantages: relatively cheap on a per unit cost, easy to assemble. Disadvantages: need a mechanical engineer to translate the ID to tooling files, injection molding tools are *very* expensive. 2. Machined housing. Advantages: no expensive tooling needed. Disadvantages: need a mechanical engineer to translate the ID to machining files (the CNC shop can probably do this), per unit cost would be significantly higher, throughput is low. 3. 3D printed housing. Advantages: no expensive tooling needed, cheaper than machining on a per unit basis. Disadvantages: need a mechanical engineer to translate the ID to 3D printer ready files, finish is not very good (actually, it's pretty lousy), plastic strength is low for mechanical structures like screw bosses. 4. Use an off-the-shelf project box. Advantages: no ID/mech eng work needed, parts readily available, cheap on a per unit cost. Disadvantages: will require some DIY to get the box ready (drilling holes for connectors, buttons, LEDs, etc.), PCB needs to be laid out to accommodate the mounting system in the project box, not too many project boxes are "decor-friendly". It may also be possible to cast the box parts out of resin, which would be similar to #1, but with a somewhat lower tooling cost and a higher per part materials cost. Using this method would be highly dependent on the design. -=> Jim ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JimC's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=9428 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=97881 _______________________________________________ discuss mailing list discuss@lists.slimdevices.com http://lists.slimdevices.com/mailman/listinfo/discuss
