Now that I have a nice box prototype made of cardboard, it’s time to make actual blueprints and size calculations, refining the prototype with some ideas.
If you’re new here, and wish to read the whole project, start on day #1 of this project.
The blueprints
As I said above, I made some arrangements to the original prototype. For example, I found a way to hide hinges. Apart from some screws, not too much clutter should be visible from the outside.
Size calculations
I started on a base control panel size of 20cm width and 15cm height. But to be honest, I don’t really know the required size… At least I have the formulas.
Parameters
height inside = 3cm
panel width = 20cm
panel height = 15cm
panel horizontal border = 2cm
panel vertical border = 3cm
panel angle = pi / 9
wood thickness = 0.5cm
stiffener thickness = 1.5cm
saw width = 0.1cm
Intermediary products and functions
surface = width * height
panel climb = sin(panel angle) * panel height
=> 5.13cm
base width = panel width
base height = cos(panel angle) * panel height
=> 14.1cm
front height = height inside + wood thickness
back height = front height + panel climb
climb on back stiffener = tan(panel angle) * stiffener thickness
=> 0.55cm
max(x, y) = if x > y then x else y
min(x, y) = if x < y then x else y
Resulting measurements
Part 1: back vertical stiffener
p1 length = back height - climb on back stiffener - wood thickness
=> 7.58cm
Part 2: front vertical stiffener
p2 length = front height - wood thickness
=> 3cm
Part 3: side stiffener
p3 length = base height - 2 * (stiffener thickness + wood thickness)
=> 10.1cm
Part 4: back stiffener
p4 length = base width - 2 * (stiffener thickness + wood thickness)
=> 16cm
Part 5: side board
p5 width = base height
=> 14.1cm
p5 front height = front height + wood thickness
=> 4cm
p5 back height = height inside + panel climb + wood thickness
=> 8.63cm
Part 6: back board
p6 width = base width - 2 * wood thickness
=> 19cm
p6 height = back height
=> 8.63cm
Part 7: front board
p7 width = base width - 2 * wood thickness
=> 19cm
p7 height = front height
=> 3.5cm
Part 9: bottom board
p9 width = base width - 2 * wood thickness
=> 19cm
p9 height = base height - 2 * wood thickness
=> 13.1cm
Part 10: panel
p10 width = panel width + 2 * panel horizontal border
=> 24cm
p10 height = panel height + 2 * panel vertical border
=> 21cm
Board surface
p5 height diff = p5 back height - p5 front height
=> 4.63cm
p5 surface = p5 width * p5 front height + (p5 width * p5 height diff) / 2
=> 89.01cm^2
p6 surface = p6 width * p6 height
p7 surface = p7 width * p7 height
p9 surface = p9 width * p9 height
p10 surface = p10 width * p10 height
Totals & required material
total stiffener length = p1 length + p2 length + p3 length + p4 length + 3 * saw width
=> 36.98cm
total board surface = p5 surface + p6 surface + p7 surface + p9 surface + p10 surface
=> 1072.3cm^2
base board required width = max(base width/cm, min(p10 width/cm, p10 height/cm)) * cm
=> 21cm
base board required height = p5 front height + p5 back height # the two side plates
+ p6 height + p7 height + p9 height
+ max(p10 width/cm, p10 height/cm) * cm
+ 5 * saw width
=> 62.36cm
If you find something wrong in here, please tell me :)
Find it on github
As usual, all of this can be found in the github repository of the project. Please note that you’ll need Omnigraffle to open the blueprints. The calculations markdown file can be opened with Calca for better results.
To be continued
The arduino leonardo I needed for this project recently arrived. Next time we’ll try to interface that with War Thunder :)