Recycling old electronics for PI's benefit

[bigbwashere]

Below is a mish-mash from a few hours of pondering PI:

With the case I need to make for the RP(old hard drive cases might be my foundation)  I could add the powered USB hub to the case and possibly the fans from the 360 intercooler(needs on/off switch).
I just need to figure out how to power the fans.....try an external power source or use the powered USB hub for the fans........
Case ideas - Various objects around the house (modify) or build from of scratch...was thinking of old electronics for the various objects (vcrs, old hard drives, old cd/dvd drives,)
Outer ideas - Try using LED lights that can be wired into a speaker system. The LEDs will pulse to the beat of the audio......make a switch to turn this feature on and off for use during the day (not needlessly using the lights,prevent distraction) Must look into How to make this happen!!
 If the any of the previous suggestions are possible, add a spot on the outside of the case if my Belkin B/G USB dongle works in one of the OS choices for in-car RP awesomeness!!! .....
Recycling old Electronics for RP's sake -
Would using an GBA screen or the 2 NDS screens (regular screen/touch screen) work on the RP through the RCA port????
I Was thinking of this as a basic screen for my RP to use, like the mini screens a printer has....need more info
I have old printers, scanners laying in storage
I also have a non-operational portable Vtech edu-game system(it was dropped, not sure if an internal component went, preventing the video from working or the screen died itself)
I might still have a laptop screen from an old P3 laptop
Gaming ideas - I have an old xbox controller that I already wired to work on Windows in test mode.......what would RP think?? 

[john_wage]

First of all you don't need any cooling for the RPi.

Secondly, if you install a naked PCB in to  a sheet metal hard drive case you must be very cautious for not shorting anything, also know how to ground it properly. I would recommend a non-conductive material for housing though.

About screen, you cannot extract a raw LCD module and plug it anywhere you like. As far as I know, there are no LCD modules that work natively with ANY of the standard Digital OR Analog video signals in the RPi or other computers for that matter.

You need a driver-board designed specifically to convert a certain signal input to the interface of the LCD-TFT module. Well, designed for the LCD-TFT's sub-standard anyway.

Your projects are very ambitious, it is very difficult to interconnect salvaged items that were manufactured for a specific system.

However, if you are determined to do so, I suggest you start by looking at the Model No. for each part you want to use, find out who manufactured it, and usually you can from their website find Datasheets in .pdf with all the technical information that you need about it.

[bigbwashere]

Thank you for your reply, john_wage, as your comments save me from trying many  unnecessary things for my RP. My main concern is making the case NOT short out....

I have 2 hard drives gutted out, but I can't decide how I am going to mount the RP (Can I mount it like a computer motherboard?) The hard drive cases are made from thin (cover) and thick (bottom) aluminum, so I would need to use motherboard mounts if I can in fact, mount it like a motherboard gets mounted in a pc case

I am going to abandon attempts on a screen, other than that of a portable  viewing device with an RCA input(in car), I'll use HDMI for inside the house

I am not an electronics madman, just a tech tinker and modifier............

Though most of my ideas seem impossible, I still hope to inspire some techno-wiz from my above post, hopefully I just helped someone form a thought that has been bouncing around their head...........

[john_wage]

Hehe trust me once this board actually gets out to the consumers, there are plenty of mad hackers who will go bananas with the soldering iron on this baby.

And beginner friendly instructorials will be readily available.

As for the mounting, there are not much specific information about what kind of mounting support the production board has.

As far as I understood the very tight fit of all the circuitry left little to none room for mounting holes etc. So you might have to resort to some form of clamping system around the corners of the board.

[ghans]

Well , that are some pretty cool ideas there.

There are no mounting holes on the Pi.

Use plastic clamps to fit it in your pc case (you'll have to make them yourself) .

If you want to use external hardware : Test them in Linux on an old PC !

If they do not work on a 'real' hardware with Debian / fedora they will not work on the pi with a propability of 99 % .

Good luck !

ghans

[Vindicator]

Traditional mounting hardware is not going to work since the Raspi does not have mounting holes.

I would suggest double sided tape as a solution, it needs to be thick enough to hold the board of the bottom and the same thickness as the SD card socket would probably work best.

[bigbwashere]

Would a sheet of Nylon or a cut piece of heated, then flattened PVC pipe do the trick folks?

I can also try to make mounts  that slide on the RP board sideways (kind of like putting a tree stand on an X-mas tree), so that it does not contact the hard drive case and cover that I planned on using.

I would mount the nylon sheet to the hard drive case via tab or hole with screws, but nowhere near the RP board

[bigbwashere]

BTW, thank you all for meeting your minds with mine on this, please post more thoughts if possible....this topic will stay active as long as I possibly can help it

[mole125]

Anything that provides insulation, won't degrade over time or from moderate heat should be fine - even cardboard! I'd be tempted by some some double sided foam tape or similar.  I think your biggest challenge though is getting it mounted with holes for the cables in the right place.

[bigbwashere]

thank you, Mole125....I have a grinder, drill, and I can get a dremmel tool if needed...I must wait for the PI to get here to be able to full understand what I need to do, the picture and printout just aren't enough

[SN]

My mounting plan, whatever the box, is to make a set of blokcs (plastic or even wood) that pin the raspi board on its edges and wedge against the inside of the case on all four sides. Each block will have a slot half way up, say 1/4 inch deep, on one side into which will wedge the raspi. The blocks will be the same height as the inside of the case and will thus be locked in place top and bottom. I"m typing this on a Galaxy Tab so no pictures right now

EDIT: logged on to the linux laptop, each block will look something like this

[bigbwashere]

Great work, SN!!! That is similar to what I mentioned about using nylon to make the PI be suspended above, yet mounted to the shell of an old hard drive....the cool thing about nylon in this case is the fact that it could be flat, but if I heat it up the right way, I could ben it to where I need to make tabs. During that, I need to get a tap & die set to make holes for the screws I am going to use
Very cool, you inspire me to post pics of what I'm going to use

I also want to make a mount for the side of my tv

[bill]

I'm planning on a similar mounting scheme only I'm going to try using nylon standoffs with notches cut halfway through them.  Standoffs already have threads cut in them so they should be easy to mount to a flat surface.  Think I'll make a few test cuts with my Dremel tomorrow, yes it would be much easier with a milling machine but I don't have access to one.

[bigbwashere]

Hey, use what ya got like me, it's more satisfying....now to find some flat nylon pieces

BTW, will you post pics of your idea? If not, I understand.......anyway...I'll try to take pics during my process of creation going to call it "FrankenPi's Monster" because of the old hard drive shell and the other stuff I am going to re-use making this happen

Does anyone have measurements of the Model B? Thanks in advance

[rurwin]

The material I intend to use, and which may be much easier to handle than hacking other repurposed plastic bits, is High Impact Polystyrene. That's the same stuff model Airfix models are made of. You can buy it in sheets or various extrusions and it is very easy to work with. See: EMA Models. I've not used them, but they have a huge selection and pretty pictures. Your local model shop may have smaller quantities available.

[SANGER_A2]

SN said:





This idea is brilliant. I was involved in discussion in another thread here about simple ways to mount the Pi in a home-made non-3D-printed case and the best idea was sticky foam pads. This idea is much more stable. I'm thinking about cutting up some rubbers and sticking them to the case as holders now.

[john_wage]

Personally I'm going to solder off the Composite Video port as I know for sure that I will never use it, from there I can drill my own mounting hole or use one of the 3 already drilled holes that were made for mounting the RCA female. (one of the 3 holes is the signal carrier, which must be left untouched.) the other 2 holes doesn't even appear to be grounded so should be safe even for metal screws.

[bigbwashere]

great thoughts, guys! I am thinking about adding the rubber cover from a couple of my gutted hard drives, cut into RP sized pieces for layers of shock absorbing material and short prevention, along with my other previous ideas

[john_wage]

Well since there are no moving parts on the RPi it is already inherently resistant to shock, these days you don't really need shock absorbing material except for  when you have fragile components like glass (LCD-TFT modules) and such.

[bigbwashere]

EVERYONE, check out the GPIO board that accompanies the RP http://www.raspberrypi.org/archives/868

This could bring me the kiss of life to many old electronics within my house (motors from old cd players and other electronics)

[trikidiki]

Velcro should make a good mounting medium. It will provide a fixing and insulation in one.

Laterally thinking. I have also considered not trying to fix the board but fix the cables which will be a lot simpler and allow them to support the board.

[bigbwashere]

I am going to abandon using a hard drive case in favor of a Gamestop PSP case I had from my PSP 1000. This case can be manipulated easily, as it is made from aluminum(easier bending to shape, and easy to make cuts, drill, and file down) So the case will look rectangular instead of a long oval once it is done. the case can be seen here http://www.amazon.com/PSP-Stea.....B000ARNX5M

I imagine it looking more like a NDS case after it is done

The hard drive case will be saved for the GPIO board, if I am ever able to get one in the future

I will be using some 2 sided tape and some vinyl foam tape to hold the PI down(further mounting still needs brainstorming

[SN]

I can"t see how any velcro or tape soltion is going to be resilient to pulling and pushing plugs into the raspi"s "apertures" . . .

[bigbwashere]

In response to SN: I will get that far and make mounts out of High-temp hot glue....I imagine the RP won't get too hot.......

look at pic 2 of that link I posted, the RP will have 2 sides bracing it after I cut and shape the rounded sides to fit the RP into, the tape will be a bottom brace the vinyl tape will buffer the sides with the hinge and the clasp

[rurwin]

I've not had any luck the few times I've tried to use sticky foam pads on populated circuit boards, and double-sided tape would be worse.

I have also managed to destroy a soldered joint with hot glue. Mind you, I was potting it, so it was up to temperature for a while, but those SMD resistors would heat up fast.

Clips or clamps is, IMHO, the way to go.