This case is Tron-themed, in particular referring to the Tron 2.0 videogame.
It is made mainly of transparent polycarbonate for the walls and the internal structure, and stainless steel for the base. I handmade every component of the case structure, in particular I engraved by hand some Tron-themed drawings on the transparent pieces, and the engravings are enlighted with a lot of individually addressable LED strips.
The case size is quite big (it is about 95x45cm, and 60cm high), and the shape is very particular: it is designed to host the PC monitor inside the encumbrance of the case, obtaining a single block that includes the whole computer and the monitor.
The shape of the case is the union of two pyramid sections: a taller and narrower one, placed to the left of the screen, and a lower and wider one placed behind the screen.
In addition to the computer hardware, inside the case there are some other unusual devices: a video projector, an Arduino board, touch and proximity sensors and a mechanically moved “Prankster Bit” (it is a weapon from Tron 2.0).
QUICK VIDEO PREVIEW OF THE KERNEL 2.0 (in particular all the animations and the moving parts! length: 3 min.):
VIDEO OF ALL THE FEATURES EXPLAINED OF THE CASE:
More specifically, the devices in the case (all visible in the video above) are:
– A self-made circuit that controls the touch and proximity sensors, that in this case handle these functions: power on/off, prankster bit movement on/off, prankster bit lighting on/off, proximity sensor on/off, fans speed 5/12v, next Arduino lighting state, previous Arduino lighting state.
– An Arduino board that controls all the lighting effects of the case and the animations displayed on the videoprojector, and that can be controlled from the touch sensors, from the proximity sensor and from a PC application I developed for it (Arduino and the application communicate bidirectionally, because each one must react to the events raised by the other one).
– A mechanically moved “Prankster Bit” (it is a weapon from Tron 2.0) mounted on the top area of the left tower. It is a cylinder covered by some triangular fins, that are kept in a constant oscillating movement by an electric motor.
– A proximity sensor that changes the lighting state and the projected animation of the case, only by bringing the hand 1-2cm close to an engraving on the left wall.
– A videoprojector that shows a secondary screen on a panel in the left tower, in which it can be visualized any kind of information, and some animations syncronized with the lighting effects.
– A polycarbonate Tron disc that, when pressed, opens and closes the tray of the optical drive.
Every phase and detail of the making-of can be viewed in the Project Log pages
Links to the sections of the Project Log:
