Concept RSC - Really Small Case

[jeshikat]

I made some adjustments to the design resulting in this:

Rounded corners, yay!

 

[Kmpkt]

I don't know if you're planning on using the BPlus M.2 to PCIe adapter or something else, but if you do I thought I'd show your layout using said adapter:


The one thing you'll notice is that the BPlus adapter is oriented in the reverse direction to the I/O plate of the H110. While at first glance this looks like a problem, it's actually perfect. The relative alignment of the GPU I/O plate and the H110's front ports is about as good as you could possibly wish for, so much so that I would recommend using the H110's front plate as its back I/O in your build, with the GPU I/O immediately above or below it. The other big advantage to this configuration is that the barrel connector is inside which means you don't have to run a cable from the inside to the back I/O port to power the motherboard.

I'm planning on doing a similar build to yours in terms of componentry, but will be putting the GPU behind the graphics card with the AC-DC and DC-DC sitting behind the back I/O of the H110 (like you see here).

 

[Soul_Est]

Hand-drawn sketches look awesome! Question - it looks like the flange/bracket that sticks out of the back of the case for the GPU to screw into is wider than the cutout for the rear I/O of the gpu.

May be wrong here, but wouldn't it need to be a little shorter than the I/O cutout to be able to be bent?

Thank you for the compliment. Yes, the flange must be made shorter. Thank you for pointing that out. I fix that up for inclusion in my next update.

Rounded corners, yay!

Of course they're rounded. I would prefer not to be haunted by anyone because of that. If any friendly ghosts wish to visit me however, I would gladly have them of course.

I don't know if you're planning on using the BPlus M.2 to PCIe adapter or something else, but if you do I thought I'd show your layout using said adapter:

--snip--

The one thing you'll notice is that the BPlus adapter is oriented in the reverse direction to the I/O plate of the H110. While at first glance this looks like a problem, it's actually perfect. The relative alignment of the GPU I/O plate and the H110's front ports is about as good as you could possibly wish for, so much so that I would recommend using the H110's front plate as its back I/O in your build, with the GPU I/O immediately above or below it.

That was not an original part of the project scope and now you have me considering it. I originally intended for Mini-ITX compatibility as that would allow support for both AMD and Intel processors as well as higher TDP processors. I may visit upon this idea in another case in the future.

 

[Kmpkt]

Wow I totally thought this was an STX build. Sorry I'm a doofus. If you are in fact interested, I've been playing with the idea of designing an ITX sized adapter plate that would house an STX board, 250W AC/DC and matching DC/DC unit all in a mini ITX footprint. Would allow easy adaptation of STX into ITX cases like the S4 mini.

 

[Colinreay]

Wow I totally thought this was an STX build. Sorry I'm a doofus. If you are in fact interested, I've been playing with the idea of designing an ITX sized adapter plate that would house an STX board, 250W AC/DC and matching DC/DC unit all in a mini ITX footprint. Would allow easy adaptation of STX into ITX cases like the S4 mini.

Now my hope lies with Colorful to create an STX board, and inegrate a AC-DC full SMPS onto the same pcb to conserve space. Only huge problem I could see would be HUMONGOUS interference!

 

[Kmpkt]

As in the ability to run a PCIe 8 pin from STX motherboard to GPU? Is this in the works over at colourful?

 

[Colinreay]

As in the ability to run a PCIe 8 pin from STX motherboard to GPU? Is this in the works over at colourful?

I'm thinking more along the lines of integrating a full power supply on the same pcb as an STX board (similar to your itx adapter idea, but an all-in-one solution), so you can forgo the need for an external AC-DC Brick + DC-DC ATX converter. Doubt this would every happen, more of just fanciful thinking on my part because I think it would be awesome!

 

[Kmpkt]

Got it

 

[Soul_Est]

Wow I totally thought this was an STX build. Sorry I'm a doofus. If you are in fact interested, I've been playing with the idea of designing an ITX sized adapter plate that would house an STX board, 250W AC/DC and matching DC/DC unit all in a mini ITX footprint. Would allow easy adaptation of STX into ITX cases like the S4 mini.

You are not a doofus. It was something that I had overlooked when defining the scope. I very much like your idea and I see it's potential.

Now my hope lies with Colorful to create an STX board, and integrate a AC-DC full SMPS onto the same pcb to conserve space. Only huge problem I could see would be HUMONGOUS interference!

I'm thinking more along the lines of integrating a full power supply on the same pcb as an STX board (similar to your itx adapter idea, but an all-in-one solution), so you can forgo the need for an external AC-DC Brick + DC-DC ATX converter. Doubt this would every happen, more of just fanciful thinking on my part because I think it would be awesome!

Yeah and these boards are crammed enough as it is. Perhaps if the board was bought up to ten layers and the power traces run on the outermost layer, that may work.

 

[Colinreay]

Yeah and these boards are crammed enough as it is. Perhaps if the board was bought up to ten layers and the power traces run on the outermost layer, that may work.

Yeah, plus a huge shield in the pcb between the two things. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I would imagine that this could cause all sorts of problems if not shielded very well.

 

[Runamok81]

Definitely going to be following this. Good luck with the build!

 

[Soul_Est]

Yeah, plus a huge shield in the pcb between the two things. I'm not an electrical engineer, but I would imagine that this could cause all sorts of problems if not shielded very well.

That it would especially if high-frequency switching were involved similar to the FINsix DART.

Definitely going to be following this. Good luck with the build!

Thank you. I do intend to post either weekly or bi-weekly updates from now on.

 

[Soul_Est]

FreeCAD

From the FreeCAD website:

FreeCAD is a parametric 3D modeler made primarily to design real-life objects of any size. Parametric modeling allows you to easily modify your design by going back into your model history and changing its parameters. FreeCAD is open-source and highly customizable, scriptable and extensible.

"This is wonderful! It's free and I can have it make my coffee! (or use it to design a robot to do so) Just how to I use it?"

FreeCAD is very powerful and takes time to learn and become competent in. Learning about the different tools, workbenches, and macros require solid knowledge and application. To aid myself in the former, I turned to YouTube and found hours of tutorials to learn from. So in alphabetical order (by author name):

Spoiler: BPLRFE

All of BPLRFE's videos in German
Tutorials (deutsch)
Forumsantworten <- Forum answers

Spoiler: bram de vries

The titles are mixed up for part 6. I have listed them in the correct order.
Primitives
Booleans
2D Constraints
From 2D Sketch to 3D Model
More 2D Constraints
Exercise 1A
Exercise 1B
Array Utility
Sweep and Loft Ultilities

Spoiler: cad1919

No audio, the text is , and they are very in-depth (suitable for beginners). Helpful for learning how to model variety of shapes.
Getting Started
Tutorials
Mechanical Drawing
Various

Spoiler: j16out

j16out made these for a friend.
Tutorial 1
Tutorial 2
Tutorial 3

Spoiler: John Durston

Quick tutorials performing certain operations and tutorials on designing a bicycle.
TurboTutes
Designing a Bicycle

Spoiler: Juan Gonzalez Gomez

Two excellent sets of tutorials in Spanish from a Robotics Engineer
Tutorials I
Tutorials II

Spoiler: Learn FreeCAD

A subset of BPLRFE's videos in English
Lessons for Beginners
Forum Replies

This is only a small chunk of the information that is available. If you need more personable help, there are also the Install / Compile and Help on using FreeCAD forums of the FreeCAD Forum.


"This is all well and good, but what in FreeCAD do I actually use to design a case?!" That is what I will answer in this next part.

Thanks to FreeCAD having a couple of APIs (C++ and Python) and supporting macros, there are a lot of available workbenches, scripts, and macros. For our use, we need three to start with:

Either the Part Workbench or Part Design Workbench
The Part Workbench enables you to create parts by taking primitive shapes and modifying them. The Part Design Workbench enables you to create parts using sketches and solid creation tools. Whichever one you choose to use is ultimately up to you.

Sheet Metal Workbench
Most of us are creating our designs from sheet metal. This workbench cuts down the time it takes to extrude faces and fillet the edges to create the bends and flanges. It even has an unfolding tool for when you need to unfold the model to add features such as cuts or holes.

Fasteners Workbench
We do need to hold our creations together somehow, hence the author of the Sheet Metal Workbench created this to compliment it. The workbench has everything from PEM self-clinching nuts and stand-offs to various nuts, screws, washers, and threaded rods. There is even a chamfer tool for modifying holes to accept countersunk screws as well as a screw hole calculator off to get the suggested hole diameter to accept a specific screw size.


"Good to know, but how to I use all of this to realize my dream of the one perfect case! (for me)."

You will follow these five steps:

1. Create the base sheet in either the Part Workbench or Part Design Workbench
2. Create the bends and flanges in the Sheet Metal Workbench.
3. Create your features in either the Part Design Workbench. (Don't forget to round the edges!)
4. Add self-clinching hardware or chamfers in the Fasteners Workbench.
5. Unfold the model in the Sheet Metal Workbench and check your work

In the next update, I will go through these steps more in-depth.

 

[Phuncz]

Nice compilation there, well done !

 

[Soul_Est]

@ilovelampshade
When looking over the thread for items to include, I noted that the picture you linked in this post is missing.

Nice compilation there, well done !

Thank you. I do hope that it help others get to use this amazing program.

@Everyone
Next post will be posted later this week as I start to bring the project towards the prototyping stage.

 

[Kmpkt]

@ilovelampshade
When looking over the thread for items to include, I noted that the picture you linked in this post is missing.

Still shows up for me. Anyone else having problems?

 

[Soul_Est]

What If aka. Feature Creep

Or as Uncle would say, "One more thing."

As does generally happen when creating anything, the specifications of the final product are subject to change. For a personal project or community project though, this is quite common. When I first set out to create RSC, I only had one thing in mind:

To create a small, squat case that can passively cool a m.2 SSD, allow for active cooling of a DC-DC PSU, and allow use of wireless peripheral dongles inside the front panel.

And then feature creep set in.

Feature creep is a term that best describes the continued addition of features to a product or scope (in a product spec). In the case of the RSC project, I added support for 240 mm long video cards (up from 176 mm) and one 2.5" drive (up from none). These were easy to justify for the following reasons:

1. The end user may not use the space in front of the video card for wireless device dongles or for microcontrollers, or may wish to use a card that is up to 240 mm in length such as the Sapphire NITRO+ RADEON RX 470 (or 480) or the EVGA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (or 1060) Gaming
2. The end user would make sure to choose a motherboard that does not have front facing SATA ports
3. The end user may be building a system that stays under 250 W under peak load making active cooling of the DC-DC PSU moot

As such, the "feature creep" was warranted as they will require little change to the design while making the case more enticing for the end user.

Then I started brainstorming (daydreaming, became inspired, whatever) and considering other's ideas. Uh-oh.

I started looking into other ideas for making the case the best it can be.

1. What if RSC supported Mini-STX?
2. What if RSC supported an internal AC-DC PSU along aside the DC-DC PSU?
3. What if RSC supported Flex ATX PSUs?
4. What if RSC supported the XBOX One S' internal PSU?
5. What if I flipped the video card over to have its cooler draw air in from the same side as the fans over the CPU and PSU?
6. What if I made RSC design simpler by going with a full L-Shaped enclosure?

These are all valid changes which I will not be implementing for valid reasons:

1. Currently, Intel's Mini-STX is no more a standard than VIA's Pico-ITX was in the consumer space.
2. The HDPLEX 160W AC-DC w/PFC (nothing more powerful exists yet) is around the same size as the HDPLEX HiFi 250W DC-ATX (which the case is being designed for). As the case is being designed to fit into a 15" laptop bag, it would be a tight fit inside the case. Where would that C13 power connector go anyway?
3. The bottom tray of the case would need to be lengthened to accommodate it which will prevent the case from fitting into a 15" laptop bag. It would also nix 2.5" SSD support.
4. There many reasons why I would not do this starting with the fact that that PSU does not follow the ATX standard and ending with the fact that it is not commercially available.
5. This would increase the cost of the system built inside of the RSC and it would require the RSC to be even wider to accommodate the power connector on the top edge of the video card.
6. RSC is not only meant to be a SFF computer case but also a HTPC case where aesthetics matter. Having dongles plugged into the front of the case is not aesthetically pleasing.

This is just a sample of the many questions that myself and others have had about RSC. It is all about where one allows some slack in their design. I am just making sure that I do not end up in development hell due to feature creep.

 

[ricochet]

You think HDPLEX's new 160W DC-ATC Direct-plug could fit in your 55 mm case? If so, coupled with a 80W internal AC-DC adapter and a LP s0und card it would be a perfect case for me!

 

[Soul_Est]

You think HDPLEX's new 160W DC-ATC Direct-plug could fit in your 55 mm case? If so, coupled with a 80W internal AC-DC adapter and a LP s0und card it would be a perfect case for me!

It would just fit either at the front of the case or just beside the soundcard. I will do a test fit in FreeCAD and see.

 

[Soul_Est]

A Taste Of What's To Come...

With some curiosity and motivation from @ricochet, and some new found inspiration, I speed-modelled the bottom of RSC's case in FreeCAD using only the Part Design and Sheet Metal workbenches:

This is just a small taste of what's to come as I figure out how to model the different parts of the case for ease of manufacture and assembly.