Gertboard Enclosures?

[ausserirdischegesund]

Of course the Gertboard is even more a prototyping device than the Raspberry Pi.

But sometimes I feel that not casing electronics makes it really hard to test important aspects in practice. Therefore I wonder: Is there a case planned (either by Gert, the Foundation or third parties) for the Gertboard? Of course it would have to have lots of holes and slots, possibly with strain relief hooks, for cables, etc.

[jamesh]

Sorry, I have not heard of any case - and Gert certainly hasn't mentioned it.

Lego or wood are your friends here though!

[alexeames]

Unless you were going to use it as a permanent installation in something, I can't help feeling an enclosure would just be a hindrance. I think mounting it on something is a good idea, to stop you putting it down on, say, coins and creating a short. But surely, as an educational tool, you need access to the pins?

As James says though, if you want one, perhaps the best way is to make one that suits your individual needs? I can't see there being much of a market for a Gertboard case unless it has a very easily removable front. I often transport mine, mounted on a piece of wood, with demos already wired up and ready to go. (Too easy to mess up wiring with pressure and distractions at an event.)

[ausserirdischegesund]

I quite agree, that four out of five times a case gets in the way when developing hardware. But very often, after the hardware works, you have to finetune and debug software, and try out a device in the real world.

A completely hypothetical example: You want to create an alarm clock that wakes up not by sound but by scent. You want to hook up a scent disperser to a buffered output, maybe a light sensor. You get the hardware working, but now you want to try this thing out. Next to your bed. Because you want to know: Will the scent even be noticed? What is the right scent? How much of it? Will it affect your dreams? You can't test this on your workbench.

If you've got loose boards, cables sticking out in every direction, breadboards, etc. this will work for maybe the first day, but it won't last a week even for testing, because some day you will put your pillow on it, by accident. And then some wire will disconnect.

Purely hypothetical, but sometimes you *do* have to test devices in the field, even if a rough enclosure just for protection and bundling cables is all that is needed.

[exartemarte]

[..] I think mounting it on something is a good idea, to stop you putting it down on, say, coins and creating a short. [..]

I have rubber feet on mine.

[michele.x]

But sometimes I feel that not casing electronics makes it really hard to test important aspects in practice. Therefore I wonder: Is there a case planned (either by Gert, the Foundation or third parties) for the Gertboard? Of course it would have to have lots of holes and slots, possibly with strain relief hooks, for cables, etc.

Having mounting holes, I think it should be eay to buy a suitable plastic or metallic box, put some adhesive spacers or even using nut and bolts to fix the board in the case. In one of the sizes of the pcb is 100 mm there are also premade boxes, like this one: http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/instrument-cases/7417506/ with internal rails to support the pcb.

[alexeames]

Purely hypothetical, but sometimes you *do* have to test devices in the field, even if a rough enclosure just for protection and bundling cables is all that is needed.

Fair enough. I agree with that. The thing is that you'd need a custom case for each prototype as you'd be using different parts of the Gertboard and different wires. Tupperware box with holes in the right places sounds OK for that? I would have expected people to start taking projects like that "off board".

[paultnl]

I have one of these http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/330811705741? ... 497.l2649
The Pi box is extra but it does a good job of keeping everything safe and accessable at the same time.

[williamhbell]

Hi,

Can someone remind us what where how far apart the mounting holes are and what their radii are?

I have three small boys who will probably short the board out, unless I put a backing plate on the board. We currently have several ModMyPi cases and therefore would prefer to just make a backing plate.

Thanks and best regards,

Will

[alexeames]

Hi,

Can someone remind us what where how far apart the mounting holes are and what their radii are?
Will

3mm diameter
board is 8.4cm x 13.2cm
Edges of holes are 1mm in from 3 corners (top left, and both bottom) Centre of 4th hole is 1.95cm down from top right.
That's looking at the board with the writing the right way up.