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Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : My latest system....

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Grogster

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Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9643
Posted: 10:06pm 20 Dec 2015
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Hi folks.

As a teaser for the new system I am working on, here are some quick shots of my latest creation:











This system is housed in a 1mm mild-steel case(two U design), which was custom-designed and laser-cut to make everything look pretty. At this stage, the box is "Naked", but it will be powder-coated. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to be able to get the box made, and sent to the powder-coaters before Christmas, but I have the laser-cut case, and everything fits, so I should not complain!

Thermal printer on the left, prints out messages as they are received, along with date and time. SD card in the middle for logging and database storage. 7" touch-screen on the right. Key-switch selects between normal and admin modes, big red reset button(which is a soft-reset) to reset any active alarm. Speakers on the bottom for alert sounds, and DIN socket for a custom-keyboard unit. This DIN is an 8-pin DIN, chosen so that no-one tries to use an old AT keyboard on it. SMA antenna on the top is a quad-band GSM, and connects to the system board via a short SMA link cable. I will probably put some white heatshrink over the antenna, as black will look ugly in most locations. The system board is under construction, but it piggy-backs directly onto the rear of the LCD. It is based on a MM+ 64-pin.

Speakers, SD-card holder, DIN socket etc are all to be riveted in once the case has been powder-coated, but for now and the photos, they are all held with 3mm nuts-and-bolts(really just so I can see how it is going to look).

Big open area at rear for easy access to it's guts. Case has three hinges riveted to the rear side, to allow the entire case to be mounted on a wall stud, and hinged open for access to the back. Case is held to wall with two strong magnets. I may well add a key-lock arrangement to that side of the case(or cavity electro-magnets), to lock it to the wall.

I will post more images on this thread next year when everyone opens for business again, and I can get the case powder-coated. Probably off-white or cream, as this will blend in with most walls. In the meantime, once I have the system board assembled, I can at least port the code across from the previous version(which was colour maximite) and get everything working in the "Naked" case.
Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!
 
viscomjim
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Joined: 08/01/2014
Location: United States
Posts: 925
Posted: 02:58am 21 Dec 2015
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Hi Grogster, just out of curiosity, what is the final function of this unit? Looks cool and nice effort!!!!
 
akashh
Senior Member

Joined: 19/01/2014
Location: India
Posts: 115
Posted: 03:55am 21 Dec 2015
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Looks like it would be very useful as a token system at a bank or something...
 
Grogster

Admin Group

Joined: 31/12/2012
Location: New Zealand
Posts: 9643
Posted: 12:09pm 21 Dec 2015
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It's for security. Any door or window(or other) that is alarmed that is opened, is displayed on the LCD, SMS message to staff cell-phone(or optional pagers), printed out on printer and logged to SD card. The case should look much better once it has been powder coated.
Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops!
 
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