Prototype Adventures with RGB

[Colinreay]

Hey everyone!

I hope you are doing well and staying healthy during this difficult time.

I'm neither in the anti or pro RGB camp but, to celebrate Corsair acquiring the forum /s, I thought it was suitable to test out a case with some LED's. I recently got a shiny new 3D printer, so making a case was inevitable.

The case itself is rather simple in terms of interior design; I went with a sandwich tower layout with an SFX PSU at the bottom. The LED section and slant of the case are not very space-efficient, but the entire package still measures in under 10L! We all have to make sacrifices to look good. The main focus of this project was to test out RGB LED integration and sanding/painting techniques for 3d prints. I think it turned out pretty well! I still have to make some mesh side grills and chuck all of the components inside.

More details, photos, and videos to come!

Prepare for RGB!

 

[Qzrx]

I may hate RGB lighting but good god that’s a brilliantly designed case; well done. Amazed to find out it wasn’t a custom fabrication but instead 3D printed—looks like it’s made of ABS!

 

[tinyitx]

A couple comment and question:-
a. which software you are using to control the RGB effect? At the moment, is there a software that can control RGB effects of *all* components (mobo, display card, mouse, keyboard...etc) of the system so that everything is in sync? Asus Aura or Corsair iCue?

b. Is your RGB effect purely aesthetics?
For aesthetics, at least it should have a colour profile called ''1701D warp core''

I think, the next stage for RGB to evolve is to acquire more functional features. Eg ability to set up the colour changes according to a certain parameter (eg the temp or % of loading) of a certain hardware component.

 

[Phuncz]

Oh wow, a true SFF homage to the Dell XPS 700 of over a decade ago, it looks amazing !

 

[Colinreay]

I may hate RGB lighting but good god that’s a brilliantly designed case; well done. Amazed to find out it wasn’t a custom fabrication but instead 3D printed—looks like it’s made of ABS!

Thank you!

Oh wow, a true SFF homage to the Dell XPS 700 of over a decade ago, it looks amazing !

Appreciate the kind words, Phuncz! The XPS 700 design is truly timeless; Dell struck gold back then. The grill does wonders to diffuse the LED's.

A couple comment and question:-
a. which software you are using to control the RGB effect? At the moment, is there a software that can control RGB effects of *all* components (mobo, display card, mouse, keyboard...etc) of the system so that everything is in sync? Asus Aura or Corsair iCue?

b. Is your RGB effect purely aesthetics?
For aesthetics, at least it should have a colour profile called ''1701D warp core''

I think, the next stage for RGB to evolve is to acquire more functional features. Eg ability to set up the colour changes according to a certain parameter (eg the temp or % of loading) of a certain hardware component.

a) Right now, all of the LED's are controlled by an Arduino Uno. I wired the Arduino up to the internal USB header on the motherboard and power everything from the PSU. It would be very straightforward to make a small connector that connects to an internal RGB header - unfortunately, I don't have a motherboard capable of this to test it out.

b) Yep, purely for aesthetics - for now. The main motive for making this case was to practice RGB LED integration and finishing 3D prints. I definitely want to make LED's functional for future projects. The RGB eye candy gets old very quickly and being able to display temperatures or load would be very cool. I'll try to learn how to fetch current component data in Arduino. I feel that would give the greatest control over the effects..

 

[CC Ricers]

Wow that's some great craftsmanship! I too would have thought that case was injection molded plastic, not 3D printed. What kind of paint finish did you do to the plastic to get it to look like that?

I look forward to seeing how you would add interactivity to the LEDs. Make sure to get an Arduino Micro for added SFF friendliness to fit the board inside a very small space. Maybe even the Digispark with ATTINY85 if you can get software serial working with the I/O.

 

[Colinreay]

Wow that's some great craftsmanship! I too would have thought that case was injection molded plastic, not 3D printed. What kind of paint finish did you do to the plastic to get it to look like that?

I look forward to seeing how you would add interactivity to the LEDs. Make sure to get an Arduino Micro for added SFF friendliness to fit the board inside a very small space. Maybe even the Digispark with ATTINY85 if you can get software serial working with the I/O.

Thanks, CC Ricers! I used a Duplicolor flat black finish for the final coats. I tried Rustoleum and Krylon and just couldn't get them to produce a consistent finish. To be fair, the problems I encountered with the other spray paints can be attributed to my bad painting skills. Duplicolor cans have a very wide spray pattern that makes it easy to do smooth, overlapping coats.

A smaller Arduino will definitely be used for future LED projects. The UNO is a great prototyping platform but definitely not SFF-friendly.

 

[dragon50305]

What printer and material did use to make this?Did you sand it or use an acetone bath? I've wanted to 3-D print a case but they seem to universally look like garbage, except for this one. Seriously great work!