Construction

Working in Rice University's Oshman Engineering Design Kitchen

 




Sketch of the acrylic boards that were used to mount the motherboards to, including dimensions. (These dimensions were later changed to 8" X 8.5")


 

Sketch fo the motherboard, including dimensions

Sketch of the frame, including estimated dimensions

 

 
One of our motherboards



Here, the acrylic board is being cut to predetermined dimensions via Adobe Illustrator.

One of our motherboard boards being cut to size.

Testing out the size 6 screws, washers, and nuts on the motherboard boards. We landed on using nylon washers and size 6 hardware. We used 3 nuts for each screw: one metal nut against the board below the motherboard, a nylon nut between the metal nut and motherboard, and another metal nut on the top that mounts the motherboard. 

After this photo was taken, the nuts in between the motherboards and acrylic boards were replaced with custom-made plastic spacers for a more professional look.


Positioning the motherboard on the acrylic board.
A completed, mounted motherboard.

 The network box mounted to its acrylic board.

 

All six mother boards mounted to the acrylic boards, which were smoothed down on the sides.

The machine shop where we will be cutting, sawing, and milling down parts for our frame.



The band saw that was used to cut the U-channels.


This is a picture of some of the U-channels (16 in total) that were cut by a band saw and then milled and filed down to 9.5" long for a smooth finish.

A close-up of the smooth finish on the ends of the U-channels.



Hooked up the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. Played around with the cables and discussed which operating system to use.

Prepped the U-channels by marking where the holes should go and the spacing of the two side bars. 

 

Decided on 0.25", 1.25", 6.25"and 8.25" from the base and 4" between the two side bars.

 

Cut the side rails with a hand saw to approximately 24" long.

Milled the sides down to get a smooth finish to 23 3/4" each

After milling, the edges were filed down by hand.

Tested out a small screw size on a spare U-channel in order to determine what 
screw size to be used on the side bars to dill holes.

Used the drill press to make holes on the side rails at 1" in for the first with 2.5" between remaining 7 holes.
Went back through with a drill bit piece to drill through the hole marking places.
Filed down the sides of the side bars along the hole pieces in order to 
smooth them down. T
hreaded the holes




Threaded the sidebars in preparation for screwing them into the base pieces

 

Used a large machine in Ryon Lab to cut 3/32 3003 Aluminum sheets into 

2 9.25" X 14.5" pieces for the base pieces, which were then bent at 3" and at 13.5" (opposite side bent)


 

After mounting all the U-channels onto the sidebars, the sidebars were 

then connected to the base pieces. 

The completed case. :)

The case was completed. The acrylic boards had to be cut 1/4 of an inch and the 

screws for locking the boards into place were threaded into the side rails (6/32 half inch nails).

 

The case with the power supplies, network cables, and power cords connected

to the computers.

 

The completed case with cords and power supplies attached.