Not an Issue Just an Enquery

[chuck808]

Hi Guys,

Excellent work and thank you for sharing.

Although I have designed a couple of custom ESP32 boards for an ongoing project, one of the major issues, as I'm sure you are aware, is finding suitable project cases/boxes for the finished article. 3D printing is an option for a few units, but to be honest they can be slow to make and butt ugly, on the other hand, unless you are making many thousands, having them manufactures can be extremely expensive.

Another option would be to use an existing form factor like the M5Stack. So my question is, would I be able to use your design with a case like the one found here.

Thank you in advance.

[runger1101001]

Hey,

Making good cases is hard, agreed!

For a small series, 3D printing is a good option, in my opinion. You can also order small batches 3D printed at acceptable prototyping costs.
Of course compared to the unit costs of a large volume production based on plastic injection or something like that, the prototype costs for 3D printing are very high.

Using a ready-made case would be great, but this won't work, unfortunately, because the OpenStack core only has compatibility with the M5 Bus header, but it doesn't follow the M5 Core's placement of any of the other ports, so it won't work in a M5 Core case...

Some ideas:

Acrylic can be easy to work with, and can be laser-cut (which unlike 3D printing is fast and can produce elegant looking results). Many maker type cases are based on acrylic, which is available in many colours and thicknesses, and can even be ordered pre-formed in angles, circles or boxes.
With a bit of care it can be drilled or also engraved. It's easy to glue with acrylic glue, and many maker-type cases are based on it. With a couple of drilled holes you can bolt your PCBs to the base, and with the laser-cutter you can cut out openings for ports and cables...

PCBs themselves can be used as part of the case - design them in the right shape to cover and protect the actual PCBs which get sandwiched in-between. You can use standoffs to interconnect the stacks of interior PCBs, and have a bolt/screw at the outside ends. Or you can just use standard headers to interconnect, and outside bolts on the case.

Ot design your PCBs to an available case format. By using things like RPi, Arduino or M5 Stack formats, you will find plenty of ready-made cases to use.
But unfortunately this module does not allow it.