Moderne by Maki Role - Finished and Final Photos! - Update 08/06/15 - Page 4

[Maki Role]

Hello once again to a new build log!

First up a big thanks to Bit-Tech and Intel for hosting this competition again, providing the gear and for choosing my design to be one of the finalists. It's looking to be a crazy one this year with some beautiful concepts on show. It's amazing to see what people came up with in such a short space of time over such a busy period of the year.

My kit arrived on Tuesday afternoon (17th Feb), so I got straight to photoing all the bits and bobs. All in all it's quite an impressive haul, there's a fair bit more scope than the ahrdware from the last competition:

Mainboard: Intel NUC5i3RYB (the i3 platform)
RAM: 4GB Corsair Value Select DDR3 1600MHz
Storage: 80GB Intel m.2 SSD




 

Brief:

The concept behind Moderne is about being sleek and simple. I decided to follow some of the principles found in art moderne, straight edges with rounded corners, that sort of thing. The main construction is going to be 3D printed, with as much built in as I can possibly manage. To keep things sleek, I'll be going with a capacitive touch sensor for the on/off switch, which should keep the front nice and clean. You can't see this in the renders as I haven't modeled it, still working out the parts I need.

Enough waffle, let's get some pictures going:





 

Concept Renders:

Pictures:

[spwath]

Looks nice, subbing.

[Nup]

Damn that thing looks funky almost retro in ways. I get where you were going though. 

 

Subbed!

[FloRolf]

i thought like "That's one f*cking nice render of that pillow! :o" Then i realized its real

 

Cool project!

[GeekySole9354]

Them renders tho...

[nicon]

Where can I get one of those pillows/plushies/stuffed nucs! They're so cute.  :lol:

[Tearass]

Followed this, the renders look really nice..

[darkspeedy26]

@ maki role: i guess its time for you to update your signature

 

also, i couldn't believe they were renders. you are using some fine textures there

[Montoyatok]

I thought the renders were real for a second, looks like an awesome project

[JarJarBanksy]

They look super thick. Much thicker than they need to be. To me, it makes them look bloated and fat. Why did you make it so thick?

 

Also, why did you go for the plexiglass window on the side? I feel very neutral on it. Like not having it adds just as much as having it. I'm curious for your reasoning on having the window on a computer that looks like it is meant to go by somebody's tv. Somebody who isn't super tech savy.

[Maki Role]

Damn that thing looks funky almost retro in ways. I get where you were going though. 

 

Subbed!

 

Yup that's the idea, look a little into the past to try and make something for the future.

 

Them renders tho...

 

Always worth the extra toil and trouble, make things so much easier on my end, plus a little eye candy always helps

 

Where can I get one of those pillows/plushies/stuffed nucs! They're so cute.  :lol:

 

No clue actually, I was very surprised when it arrived.  They're SO SOFT though, really quite like mine now rofl, should be a standard extra on high end equipment IMO.

 

Followed this, the renders look really nice..

 

Welcome aboard!

 

@ maki role: i guess its time for you to update your signature

 

also, i couldn't believe they were renders. you are using some fine textures there

 

I guess I will have to eh?  That's the advantage of taking your own pictures for textures, 24MP of clarity and controlled angles and lighting.  Much better than trying to find them online.

 

They look super thick. Much thicker than they need to be. To me, it makes them look bloated and fat. Why did you make it so thick?

 

Also, why did you go for the plexiglass window on the side? I feel very neutral on it. Like not having it adds just as much as having it. I'm curious for your reasoning on having the window on a computer that looks like it is meant to go by somebody's tv. Somebody who isn't super tech savy.

 

I think that's actually just the scale messing with the look, the walls are actually rather thin (most are 2mm).  Have a look at the default NUC case to see what I mean, that's aluminium and looks very thick in the photos.  When printed in nylon, thin surfaces can become a little flexible, as I found out with my last NUC, so I've bulked up the necessary parts a little to account for this.

 

As for the window, well it's going next to my TV so I'd like to be able to see inside, but I'm not leaving it clear.  It'll either be smoked acrylic or 2 way mirror.  That way when it's off you won't see anything and when it's on it'll only be subtle.  It also acts as the status indicator as I didn't want any external lights (like on/off switches etc).  Trust me, it'll look good. 

 

cool idea so i am waiting for more, on what you have done for you last few builds i am interested to see what becomes of this

 

Happy to have you on board, hopefully it lives up to expectations!  This is only a quick project, has to be done by mid April at the latest as per the competition rules.

[nicon]

No clue actually, I was very surprised when it arrived.  They're SO SOFT though, really quite like mine now rofl, should be a standard extra on high end equipment IMO.

Totally agree, every high end component should come with a plushie version of itself. You can collect them like how tech you tubers collect product boxes. Buy a GPU, get a plushie GPU as an extra.

[Norman_the_Owl]

After loramentum, instant sub

[NerdNinja]

Totally agree, every high end component should come with a plushie version of itself. You can collect them like how tech you tubers collect product boxes. Buy a GPU, get a plushie GPU as an extra.

 

I could start a relatively successful company with this idea.

[nicon]

I could start a relatively successful company with this idea.

Holy shit. Do it.

[JarJarBanksy]

I think that's actually just the scale messing with the look, the walls are actually rather thin (most are 2mm).  Have a look at the default NUC case to see what I mean, that's aluminium and looks very thick in the photos.  When printed in nylon, thin surfaces can become a little flexible, as I found out with my last NUC, so I've bulked up the necessary parts a little to account for this.

 

As for the window, well it's going next to my TV so I'd like to be able to see inside, but I'm not leaving it clear.  It'll either be smoked acrylic or 2 way mirror.  That way when it's off you won't see anything and when it's on it'll only be subtle.  It also acts as the status indicator as I didn't want any external lights (like on/off switches etc).  Trust me, it'll look good. 

Now that I have a better idea of what you're going for, this is going to be totally freaking kronk yo. 

 

I failed to mention previously that I really do like the general shape of the case. You have curves in all the right places, and lines in all the right places. I also like that it has a pedestal/foot instead of just sort of sitting on the ground.

[starwarsguy99]

 

 

 

Enough waffle, let's get some pictures going:

 

 

 

 

Isn't the term enough waffling?

[Maki Role]

Isn't the term enough waffling?

 

Waffling produces waffle.

 

 

UPDATE!

 

So I'm sure many of you are wondering what the hell's taken me so long to get an update on this?  Well simply put it's because the shipping times on small electronics are stupid, I had to wait almost 2 weeks to get these two recent switches, and that's after waiting ages for one that doesn't even work.  Basically I tried everything I could to get these things to operate properly and they just wouldn't.  It seems finding a source of stable +5V on this board whilst off is a real challenge, the normal USB headers aren't present and the one that is doesn't supply juice when off.  Even the auxiliary power connector was a bit shifty (not to mention its stupid location under the M.2 SSD mount.  It went on like this for days.

 

So a little disappointed, I sat down at my desk and began to tinker with the switches again this morning.  After some fiddling I decided to have another go at testing them on the auxiliary power connector again, low and behold I managed to get two of them to work!

 

This is all three of them next to each other.  The left and middle are both capacitive proximity sensors, the one on the right is an infrared:

 

I had really wanted to use this particular sensor as it's simply so small and efficient, sadly it refused to cooperate.  It's designed for use with an arduino board, seems it really needs it to be controlled properly.

 

I picked this one up on Nexxo on Bit-Tech's suggestion for a future project actually.  I figured I may as well try it as an infrared on switch could be pretty cool if the others didn't work.  I got it to work eventually, it has a good range too!

 

This big mamma is the one I've settled on.  This thing's huge, but it'll do the job.  I was worried it wouldn't work properly as it's rated for 6-36V and the board can only supply 5V.  Luckily it does work, so I'll be using it.

 

I've build the mounting system into the case itself, as you can see it slots in rather nicely.  I was really worried that it wouldn't fit at all!

 

 

And the best bit of news?  My side windows arrived from Parvum Systems today!  As usual the finish is really excellent, although my photos seem to have brought out the worst in them (that's what I get for rushing eh?)  They slot into the side panels and should run completely flush with the outside without any joins or seems.  Thanks a lot guys, you rock! 

 

 

[Maki Role]

cool

Cheers!

I sent off the amended parts to the 3D printers today. If all goes well they should be ready for collection on Wednesday.

[darkspeedy26]

so, if you want to grab your pc on the wrong place to move it a bit, your pc shuts down/ starts ? (lets say your partner/wife/mother/... wants to dust it off)

[willemdoom1]

wow, this is really cool, subbed!

[GeekySole9354]

Finally! Can't wait for the next update 

[Maki Role]

so, if you want to grab your pc on the wrong place to move it a bit, your pc shuts down/ starts ? (lets say your partner/wife/mother/... wants to dust it off)

 

Well it's no different to any other piece of electronics with a capacitive touch switch (like a 360/Xbone/PS4/loads of monitors) so I wouldn't expect problems.  The sensor itself is located in a sensible spot that I doubt you'd easily be able to touch by accident given it's recessed.

 

wow, this is really cool, subbed!

 

Welcome aboard!

 

Finally! Can't wait for the next update 

 

Should be soon too, apparently some vinyl I ordered is due for delivery today.  Unexpected as it's a Saturday but hey, Amazon prime delivers.

[Maki Role]

 

BIG UPDATE!

 

So today marks quite an important step in this project.  The vinyl arrived yesterday!  Since I'm using a capacitive proximity sensor as the power switch unfortunately I can't use real aluminium/steel for this (a real shame as I actually had those materials to hand).  Whilst the vinyl won't look quite as good as the real stuff, the area I'm applying it to is small, so it will still look kickass.

 

But as you can all guess, that's not the real news.  Today I went to pick up the 3D printed parts!  Much like with Vesper, I've chosen to go with SLS nylon 3D printing.  Whilst more expensive than other normal methods, it's basically better in every single way.  Not only does it have a very high resolution, but the stuff is ludicrously strong and durable, not to mention easy to work with.  To give you an idea just how strong, Vesper currently sits on the top of a 6'6 foot tall cabinet in the lounge.  My cat has managed to knock it off the top a total of 3 times, but amazingly it only has one minor paint chip and the NUC itself is fine.  That's a 6'6 fall onto a hardwood floor, not bad eh?

 

Taking the photos was a bit more of a challenge this time as the room I was using as a studio space has been taken over by, well... wood.

 

 

 

That was all delivered today, was a nightmare job tbh.  Assuming I can construct the thing properly, it should turn into a sizeable log cabin in the garden, which will be used as a workshop!  London is not good for space, having even a small dedicated workspace will make so much of a difference.  I'll finally be able to move the stonking big pillar drill and all the tool boxes out from the bedroom at least.

 

And onto the main event.  Mark at Digits to Widgets (where I got the parts printed) kindly took a couple photos of the parts being prepped.  No in progress pics of the pieces in the printer sadly, not that you'd see much as SLS machines are all sealed up usually.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And with the windows installed.  They just clip in and out, thanks to the edge bevel they sit nice and flush.

 

 

[Norman_the_Owl]

That's some pretty impressive 3D printing.

 

Is the wood and stuff for a PC project...?