Wall-Mount System for Organizing Microcontrollers and Other Hardware

[hydrophyte]

Wall-Mount System for Organizing Microcontrollers and Other Hardware

I've seen other approaches resembling this, but I think my solution refines the idea some more with an improved aesthetic and more options.

I have several different terrarium and aquarium projects incorporating microcontrollers, motor & LED drivers, power connections and other hardware. Instead of trying to hide these components away, I am instead incorporating them with the displays using these wall-mount parts. The system pairs an aluminum t-track extrusion hung vertically on the wall and securing housings and brackets assembled with laser-cut and router-cut plastic parts.

This housing is sized to match a 1/4 perfboard, used here for 5v and 12v power connections. The reverse side has this pair of white HDPE parts that slide into the t-track and also hold the housing together with 4-40 machine screws.

You could easily make the t-track slides and the housing enclosure with 3D-printed parts, but I generally prefer the laser and router for this kind of thing. The parts have a more pleasing, finished appearance, there are more color options and I can cut them out pretty quick without having to deal with filament.

Here's that housing again plugged in and connected to a buck converter I'm using to drive a short LED strip. A white acrylic panel covers the housing and I also designed bracket parts for the converter. What is not visible here are the 1/4" clear acrylic spacers of various lengths that slide into the track to hold the housings and brackets apart.

This all just hangs on the wall with #6 wood screws + drywall anchors run though the holes in the t-track. This is a basic explanation, but I also have some more parts and configurations to show.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Wookii]

3 of the 4 pics aren't working @hydrophyte - always keen to see your latest inventions, so thought I'd flag it. 👍

EDIT - working now

 

[hydrophyte]

3 of the 4 pics aren't working @hydrophyte - always keen to see your latest inventions, so thought I'd flag it. 👍

EDIT - working now

Thanks. Yes you caught me in the middle of an edit. Should be working now.

 

[hydrophyte]

Here's another setup to show a few more options. This is a decorative nightlight/area light that grows live phytoplankton culture inside. I really like 7-segment displays and I designed an enclosure for one to show the time. The case just below that holds the Ardiuno microcontroller with RTC on a 1/2 breadboard. The timekeeping also controls a relay switch for a mini air pump that stirs the culture once every hour.

The whole thing is about 48" tall and looks pretty cool.

 

[hydrophyte]

Last night I got a start on another new design area: O-ring seals for airtight/watertight tube enclosure caps. I cut the round cap shape and internal cavity on the CNC router, then flipped the shape up vertically to cut the O-ring grooves on the table router with a 1/4" bit.

Naturally the piece jumped out of my grip with the first attempted cut on the table router (oops) and you can see the little check marks where it skipped along the bit.

There are formulas you can use to optimize oO-ring groove design, but of course I ignored all that and just eyeballed instead. More ideally, the groove depth would be something like 75% of the O-ring cross-section dimensions (with the round outside diameter correspondingly greater) but I made these only about half as deep.

With a test, this leaked a lot. But I'm pretty sure the water was getting around the conspicuous router bit tool marks in the bottom of the groove rather than my bad groove design. I was able to reduce the leak to a slow drip with some teflon tape inside the groove. Silicone grease will probably stop it altogether, but I'd rather figure out how to design and cut the O-ring grooves better instead of using messy grease. Fortunately I have plenty of this nice 1" HDPE I found as scrap for more experiments.

 

[swyftfeet]

If I am reading this correctly, youre using a router to cut out these plugs?

You're prob better off turning those bottom plugs on a mini lathe. If you don't have one available or anyone who could let you use their shop, you could use a drill press.

You could probably fab up a chuck without too much effort and a clamp as your guide. just a thought.

 

[LondonDragon]

You're prob better off turning those bottom plugs on a mini lathe.

I was actually thinking of 3D printing, those might be better and cleaner
With a friend, we have been thinking about building one of these each for a brine shrimp colony!

 

[swyftfeet]

I was actually thinking of 3D printing, those might be better and cleaner
With a friend, we have been thinking about building one of these each for a brine shrimp colony!

I think you could, but I dont know the economics of it.

 

[LondonDragon]

I think you could, but I dont know the economics of it.

Printing something that size would cost £4-5 of filament (maybe less)!

 

[hydrophyte]

If I am reading this correctly, youre using a router to cut out these plugs?

You're prob better off turning those bottom plugs on a mini lathe. If you don't have one available or anyone who could let you use their shop, you could use a drill press.

You could probably fab up a chuck without too much effort and a clamp as your guide. just a thought.

I don't know how to operate it yet, but I'm getting some help with the fancy machining lathe at the shop. My revised plan is to cut out oversized disc shapes with the hole for fittings and rods on the CNC router, then put the discs on the lathe for the precise cap/plug diameter and grooves. The router is a better choice for cutting the holes. It's a number of holes to line up and HDPE is pretty soft and melty, so it can be a mess on the drill press.

I was actually thinking of 3D printing, those might be better and cleaner
With a friend, we have been thinking about building one of these each for a brine shrimp colony!

O-ring grooves really need to be perfectly smooth. The rough surface finish of an average print will be at least as bad as these tooling marks I observed. It can also be a challenge to get a totally watertight 3D print and any small voids would other opportunities to get around the O-rings. Solid material with the grooves cut on the lathe is the best solution for an O-ring seal.

 

[swyftfeet]

I don't know how to operate it yet, but I'm getting some help with the fancy machining lathe at the shop. My revised plan is to cut out oversized disc shapes with the hole for fittings and rods on the CNC router, then put the discs on the lathe for the precise cap/plug diameter and grooves. The router is a better choice for cutting the holes. It's a number of holes to line up and HDPE is pretty soft and melty, so it can be a mess on the drill press.



O-ring grooves really need to be perfectly smooth. The rough surface finish of an average print will be at least as bad as these tooling marks I observed. It can also be a challenge to get a totally watertight 3D print and any small voids would other opportunities to get around the O-rings. Solid material with the grooves cut on the lathe is the best solution for an O-ring seal.

please keep us up to date!

Maybe I was a bit unclear, what I meant was a lot of folk have more access to a drill press than a lathe, for short materials you can use a drill press as a lathe just the axis is vertical and a little harder to be accurate, but in a pinch or if your funds are limmited , it's an option. See the vid below.

given the hole pattern youre already using I can imagine you being able to make a simple chuck / mount without the "tail stock quill", sometimes refered to as the live center depending on who is describing it.