Raspberry Pi • View topic - Solarbotics to sell Acrylic Raspberry Pi enclosure

by **skater_j10** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:02 pm

Hey everyone,

Picture of newest design in Red: http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarbotics/7297260514/in/photostream
Picture of older design in Blue with VESA mount: http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarbotics/7223007556/in/photostream

We are just about to release our Raspberry Pi enclosures that we call the Raspberry SAFE and Blue Raspberry SAFE. Last week we had the rare opportunity to hold a Raspberry Pi and tweak our enclosure measurements and feel that we are now ready to place the enclosure up for sale but.....

The only thing we wanted to verify is the Trademarking. First of all we love the Raspberry Pi logo and really wanted it to be a part of the SAFE design as it just looks so good on there. So in order to keep it on there we had to appease the Raspberry Pi's Trademarking requests such as:

-Company trademark larger than the Raspberry Pi Trademark (Solarbotics logo on top plate appears larger than the RasPi logo)
-Marking that the RasPi trademark belongs to the Raspberry Pi foundation (enclosure base includes this statement)
-Donation to Raspberry Pi Foundation (We will definitely donate to the foundation if we make some sales of these enclosures)

We wanted to post here and just see if there are any objections with the Trademarking appearing on our design before we release it to the public for sale. The enclosure design will also be opensource and updated on Thingiverse http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:18358

The enclosure will have an accessory of an interchangeable base that is VESA mount standardized for 100x100mm and 75x75mm spacing to attach your enclosure to the back of an LCD but it will be sold separate from the enclosure itself. The mount will have cutouts for adding zipties or velcro straps to hold down your wiring as well.

Please post your comments soon as we are itching to release this thing into the wild!

by **nick.mccloud** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:35 pm

You really need to direct you comments to Liz (who is away on holiday this week) as the majority of us on here aren't Foundation members and can't authorise 'owt.

by **SamManDude** » Tue May 29, 2012 9:56 pm

This case looks really unique! And if the price is right, I'd buy one!

Keep up the good work!

by **annodomini2** » Wed May 30, 2012 9:06 am

Would suggest replacing the Button head screws with countersunk units and machine the housing, so they sit flush with the top.

by **skater_j10** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:02 pm

annodomini2 wrote:Would suggest replacing the Button head screws with countersunk units and machine the housing, so they sit flush with the top.

Not a bad idea, that would make it look even classier! The only issue is manufacturing, that kind of modification into the acrylic is beyond what would be feasible to make them, sorry.

Anyone know what would be the most effective way to get ahold of Liz when she gets back from vacation? I know she must have a ton of email.

by **stevepdp** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:12 pm

skater_j10 wrote:
We wanted to post here and just see if there are any objections with the Trademarking appearing on our design before we release it to the public for sale.

Jack Lang, Eben Upton and/or Liz Upton would be the best people to PM and/or email regarding this.

I believe you can apply for a license to use the marks as per what is written here.

by **prodata** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:22 pm

One thing I will say about all these case designs that are appearing and that hadn't struck me before: They do obviously provide an inexpensive way of customising the Pi that isn't usually the case (Ho ho) with standard black/silver/beige box PCs. Maybe this will add to the overall appeal of the Pi. even though it's nothing to do with hardware specs, performance etc of the device. It's perhaps unusual to have a bare-board system selling by in 5 or more figures which then generates the market and the community for all the various case designs to be created.

by **skater_j10** » Wed May 30, 2012 4:32 pm

Sorry all, didn't realize that I could actually post an image

The picture is the older design (before the Trademark rules were posted [in our defense]) and shows the VESA mount in action.

by **aidanapword** » Wed May 30, 2012 8:27 pm

Very interested.

An "unbranded" version available?

I have a couple of labels I bought on this site seems like ages ago ...

In short: nice!

by **maczor** » Wed May 30, 2012 10:49 pm

Awesome case!

by **ebrunson** » Thu May 31, 2012 12:01 pm

I am waiting for the delivery of my Raspberry Pi and for this case to go on sale. The case looks nice.

by **crazypeter** » Thu May 31, 2012 4:12 pm

Oh boy would I love one of these!

First Post! Yay!

by **XAPBob** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:34 am

I can't see how the RPi is held in place in that case.

I like it, it looks like is should be easily manufactured in decent volume, but it appears that the Pi is loose inside. Not a problem when vesa mounted, but if it's going in a bag...

by **daank** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:54 am

Very nice case... Any idea on when your selling these?

by **Scotty T** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:40 pm

Bravo, awesome design.

I want one right away!!

Let us know the details when they become available.

by **skater_j10** » Fri Jun 01, 2012 10:43 pm

Thanks for the great Feedback all!

Looks like we are ready to release the Raspberry and Blue Raspberry SAFEs early next week! So as implied they will be in the transparent raspberry red and light blue flavours! As soon as they are online they will be available as we manufacture our enclosures in-house.

We thought some more about the trademarking and thanks to your feedback have decided go with an "unbranded" top plate. We may apply for a license to have an inverted raster of the Raspberry Pi logo on the SAFE but we know it may take time to go through the approval process so it probably won't be a quick change.

We have also added a new feature of allowing a ribbon cable to poke throw the back of the SAFE. The back plate is now a bit shorter at the top to allow for this feature.

We'll keep you updated!

by **luzrfreak** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 1:13 pm

i'll buy one

by **parkenator** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 6:29 pm

I could also be interested in a SAFE

Tho i am awaiting my pi

. Cant hurt to get it somewhere to live first

by **luzrfreak** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 8:22 pm

luzrfreak wrote:i'll buy one

hurry it up too LOL i get mine tomorrow

by **BarrieG14** » Mon Jun 04, 2012 10:17 pm

I've got my Pi sat here (playing films) just waiting for its SAFE. Any idea of prices including delivery to UK?

by **skater_j10** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:43 pm

More pictures here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/solarbotics/

Here it is, the final version of the Solarbotics Raspberry SAFE! (Blue Raspberry flavour)

We stayed up late last night tweaking the design a little more, here are the changes to the SAFE:
-Reduced the overall size to allow the board to be held in place front to back
-Now designed to fit snuggly around the ethernet port
-Widened Micro USB slot in order to fit Mini-B to Micro convertors
-Moved HDMI & RCA slots up higher to be more centered around connectors
-Left room above the Raspberry Pi board for a sinlge "Pi Plate" to be stacked inside the enclosure

Looks like the Raspberry SAFE will be manufactured and ready for release either late today or tomorrow! Likely tomorrow. Check back at our site http://www.Solarbotics.com for the news! I'll post here as well.

by **skater_j10** » Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:45 pm

BarrieG14 wrote:I've got my Pi sat here (playing films) just waiting for its SAFE. Any idea of prices including delivery to UK?

I'm unsure of pricing to the UK due to the number of different methods we offer but you can go through the http://www.solarbotics.com site and get a shipping quote if you'd like, thanks!

by **skater_j10** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:04 am

So try as we might we weren't able to get the Raspberry Safe online today, but Good news is we are ready to go tomorrow and will have the SAFE as well as the VESA mount for sale!

Here's some more good news: We are able to offer at a very resonable price: $8.95 CAD/USD

The SKU number for the Raspberry SAFE will be 60103 and the VESA mount will be 60104

And even more good news, I got my personal Raspberry Pi board today! YAY! http://instagr.am/p/LivCoBGMDX/

by SN » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:23 am

skater_j10 wrote:And even more good news, I got my personal Raspberry Pi board today! YAY! http://instagr.am/p/LivCoBGMDX/

Hmmm... your pi seems to have a giant white CE on the board right where there should be a Build Week printed (amongst other bits)

by **ferik** » Thu Jun 07, 2012 12:45 am

Are you going to post a new version of the design on thingiverse?

Solarbotics to sell Acrylic Raspberry Pi enclosure

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