Inspire meeee!!!

[DaveW]

Ok, anyone who's been following the IPS1 worklog will probably have noticed that you havn't seen the front of the computer. That's because i'm not happy with it at all, and i need help to get it finished.

I know exactly what i'm doing with the front, appart from the switches. It's only going to have 4 buttons, 3 which control the drives and one to power on and power off. I don't care about the 3 drive buttons at the moment, but the power switch needs to be something special.

The themes for the case are things like:

Light Industrial
Science Fiction
Warning Signs
Matt Black & Gloss Orange
Orange Perspex
Black Mesh with led's behind it
Hazardous Substances

Do those words spring to mind an interesting type of switch? Something interesting that hasn't been done before? I was sitting staring at my sketches for about an hour today, trying to come up with ideas, but i'm dry at the moment, and i could use your help. I didn't want to post in the worklog and make a mess of it, but you should probably have a brief look at the photos to give you some idea of what the case will look like. Thanks guys, i know i'll get some helpful replies

-Dave

[TheAtomicMan]

How about a PVC-type valve? Or maybe some sort of touch switch? Kinda hard to get a feel for the case at it's current state. Maybe a giant power lever. Like in every single scifi movie ever.

[Rankenphile]

[opengswede]

^^^^^
I was thinking the same thing.

Or a giant hand touch switch, which reads your palm print (or fakes it with LEDs scrolling across the hand).
like this: press with hand (the whole plate lowers slightly), scroll light across the surface, wait a min, then start the computer)

i'm sure you can visualize (is it spellt with an 's' in GB?) it, there are plenty of those in games, movies etc. It would be kind of nice to have the plate with a red matrix across, with a hand outlined in yellow to press. I'm sure this won't be too hard for an engineer such as yourself.

-.erik

[xmastree]

Replace the glass with some flexible plastic and it won't break every time...

You'll need to modify the switch, since they are usually held in by the glass, and pop out when it's broken. All you need is the front, with a momentary pushbutton behind it.

I used to work at a place which made those. I was (among other things) tech support. One school headmistress called, asking if we could supply unbreakable glass as the kids kept breaking them...

[DaveW]

Im loving the ideas guys! I had thought about those swithes Rankenphile, but i ruled them out for 2 reasons;
1) Their size
2) I want something that's going to 'spring back' to it's original position.

Of course, i can easilly modify the switch to make it spring back...but then there's still the problem of size. I have around 3cm wide and 12cm max hight for this switch...

If you look at this plan, the switch is going to go to the right of the fan hole.

As you can see, it's a tiny amount of space. When i get a chance, i'll post a sketch of the front of the case, showing why i'm limited to such a tiny space.

Xmastree, i really like that idea! But i'm not certain it ges with the rest of the case-if you used to make them, would you be able to think of any other styles of those emergency buttons? Maybe ones that were orange say?

Keep throwwing ideas at me guys; sooner or later something's gonna stick. Thanks for everything so far.

Oh, and we do spell visualise with an s in GB. Nice to see you know your languages. Oh, i meant to say, eric's idea is great, but instead of a hand i'd limit it to a thumbprint maybe? And have it glow when the case is starting, with a thumbprint on it...Hmm...that's a pretty good idea...i'll think how i'd go about doing that and get back to you guys-till then, please keep them coming!

-Dave

[xmastree]

Xmastree, i really like that idea! But i'm not certain it goes with the rest of the case-if you used to make them, would you be able to think of any other styles of those emergency buttons? Maybe ones that were orange say?

It's only paint... We specialised in fire and security systems, so all ours were red. All you need to do is think of an emergency action and develop that.

Someting like a gas release system, I think they are yellow.

More ideas:
http://images.google.com/images?q=emergency%20switch

[Omega]

Spring loaded military cover style switch?

Either that, or you can get a military toggle style switch, and a push-button switch, and wire them so that the push-button cannot work unless the military style is on.


So like this:
(when military switch is off):

Mobo cable thing->military style switch->ground

(when military switch is on):

Mobo cable thing->military style switch->momentary button


That would be pretty awesome.

And label the military switch "Prime" and the button "fire", and have a plastic/acrylic cover over the button, and underneath, that horozontal warning line stuff.

Example of the military switch

Example of a pushbutton switch (for this, you can make it say "ON" or something, and make a cover for it.

Maybe i'll just draw what i'm talking about, since i can't find pics =/

[opengswede]

Oh, i meant to say, eric's idea is great, but instead of a hand i'd limit it to a thumbprint maybe? And have it glow when the case is starting, with a thumbprint on it...Hmm...that's a pretty good idea...i'll think how i'd go about doing that and get back to you guys-till then, please keep them coming!

-Dave

Yeah, when I saw the drawing (which I should have looked at in the first place, I thought thumb (or fore-finger) reader too. I actually think you could incorporate a real one into the case and have it close the mobo start ciruit when it's you pushing the button.

You can also do a magnetic key card reader, but fake it so that the magnetic slide thingy is there (not sure what it's called, the reader part), but inside there is a small switch which gets triggered by a card sliding through the reader (mecanical not magnetic). Not sure if it's a great explanation but it's early and I'm slightly time restraint.

-.erik

Btw, this is fun, comming up with ideas (i'm must better at that then completing things, as my gf said the other day: she supports my hobbies since she knows they'll never take off in any serious mannor. HAH! she just wait...).

[xmastree]

When I posted the call point idea, I hadn't seen the space available. Obviously a 4"x4" box won't fit there.

Is the PC going to be a permanent fixture? Mount a call point on the wall nearby, and plug it into a socket on the back. Be sure to use proper conduit for the wire, at least until it's out of sight.
Then mount a switch on the back for those times you need to power it up elsewhere.

You could illuminate it too. Either permanently, or just when it's on. I'd go for the permanent option.
I just did a quick test on my testbed mobo. Connected a standard 3mm LED to the power switch header. Unfortunately there isn't enough current available to light it. It glows but only just, so you would need to run four wires and get the LED's power from somewhere else. I would suggest using the +5V power intended for linking to the USB ports, I'm sure that's available on the header pin, but I can't find my multimeter so I can't check.