Cases Has anyone built a tank-like case?

Has anybody on Bit-Tech built a case with the aim of indestructibility? I've searched up and down and can't seem to find anything, but maybe I just haven't found it yet.

I want to do this in a few years. Maybe next summer or something. I'd like to build a case that is very shockproof, fireproof, and waterproof. The first test that I will do with it will be throwing it out of a 2nd-floor window.

Shockproofing would likely involve a LOT of padding and some elastic suspensioning, and waterproofing probably require water-cooling, as ventilation would mostly be eliminated. Fireproofing would probably involve just adding some fireproof material to the panels.

 

So throwing it out of a window WITH a PC inside that you want to function after? Hm. Passively cooled, SSD of course, integrated graphics, RAM secured in etc. But the motherboard can't be too tightly against the case, so that would have to be suspended carefully. Passively cooled, perhaps.

Brainstorming session?

 

Would need to hot glue everything into place. A mini ITX would be possible, use an Atom based board. Full ATX gaming rig though? Doubt that'll work. Case would have to be huge in order to suspend the parts.

 

You should make it extremely heavy

Force(shock in this case) = Mass * Acceleration


To create enough force to shock the computer you would need a very high acceleration. A metric ton should do. I suggest steel plate, concrete and lead. Also; steel, concrete and lead, to the best of my knowledge are not flammable.

 

What if I made it flexible so that it bounces? Then maybe it wouldn't have to be so heavy.

Brainstorming session! Is watercooling out due to durability concerns? (Is there absolutely no way to make a watercooling system shock-proof?). Also, if it's not gonna be a speed demon (since you can really only find passively cooled Atom CPUs), I'd definitely make it secure. SSDs in RAID 5 (I know TRIM isn't possible in RAID right now, but maybe it will be next year? Or if there's something else that solves SSD issues, that works too).

 

I can't spot any particular things that can go wrong with a WC setup, but I don't have much experience there. I think even if you sealed everything that you can tightly and so on, a big enough shock might work a tube loose, or shatter the res and spill water over your components. Not a huge deal if it's off and the water is distilled maybe, and you dry everything out, but this isn't meant to be a PC on life support, it's meant to withstand everything.

Perhaps model it on the Toughbook? The only problem I can see with air cooling is that you need holes. And with holes, it's not waterproof. Even watercooling needs fans.

Edit: Actually, if it's using components that don't heat up too much, you might get away with a little WC loop with some meaty rads, so long as the heat can escape.

Edit edit: Which will be difficult for fireproofing it. Damn. Um.

 

Instead of wide-open holes, isn't there a way I could conjure up some sort of waterproof netting that still allows air in?

 

I remember science shows when I was a kid:

PROBLEM: An egg needs to be thrown out a window onto concrete and survive.

SOLUTION: Suspend said egg via rubber bands inside a box. The rubber bands flex and spread the shock out over time.

 

Watercooling is ideal, as the waterblock has a smaller profile, unlike and fat heatsink.

If i still had my big Akasa 966 in my machine i would sh*t bricks if the machine dropped 3 inches as the weight of that cooler just had that feeling of being ripped off the motherboard.

Also if you get the tubing right, then they too can absorb any potential shocks and help support components.

With regards to shock proofing I don't think the active suspension idea would be wise, i would rather build a stiff chassis to secure everything to really firm, then build an active system on the exterior of the chassis, much like the DeWalt radio below

 

I think this is the exact opposite of the right approach.

It's true that force = mass x acceleration

However, you want to minimise the force experienced by the computer components, not maximise it. Acceleration = change in velocity / time therefore:

Force = mass x (delta V/ Time)

So I would suggest you try to maximise the time of impact (the time between the case contacting the ground and the computer coming to rest) and minimise the mass of the computer components. The best way to do that would be to suspend the computer components inside the outer case using some elastic material, essentially a case inside a case.

I doubt you'll be able to make the computer completely waterproof or fire proof, you will still need cables to connect power and peripherals and the connectors for these aren't waterproof.

Moriquendi

 

sarcasm doesn't show on the internet, but I think I'm right.


With a 1000Kg case, you would have to apply 1000 newtons of force to get it moving 1m/s.
1000N = 1000Kg * 1m/s.
And if you applied 1000 newtons of force to a 1000Kg case it would only move at 1m/s.
1000N = 1000Kg * 1m/s


With a 1Kg case, you would have to apply 1 newton of force to get it moving 1m/s.
1N = 1Kg * 1m/s.
And if you applied 1000 newtons to a 1Kg case it would be moving 1000m/s.
1000N = 1Kg * 1000m/s



A 2205 lbs computer made of concrete, steel plates and lead, FO REALS????

 

would fit the criteria of being 'tank-like' though

the problems i can see here is that you are always gonna have the trade-off between power and durability (hence why durable laptops are so crap spec-wise).

off the top of my head you would need an SSD, have the cooler be a corsair H50 (or something like it - secured firmly to the case and the MB theres very little to damage). the problem i can see is the GFX card. the max load limits of a PCI-e slot isnt great so as light a card as possible + some sort of stabiliser (a spacer holding it up off the bottom of the case).

locking cables would also be good, plus a spongy outside.

problem with having a shock-absorbing outside is that itll insulate really well, but if you kept vents open it shouldnt be too bad.

 

or..... have an emergency parachute system hooked to up to an accelerometer that deploys the parachute when it senses it's accelerating too fast!

 

Yeeaah - need it to be rapid-fire and infinitely re-usable, just like in real life .. I mean Just Cause 2.

 

Take a close look at a playstation controller for ideas....i've thrown mine against my bedroom wall very hard several times and it's still working

 

What you say is not accurate. If you applied a 1000N force to an object of 1kg it would accelerate at 1000m/s^2, if that force continued for one second the object would be travelling at 1000m/s. The same applies to the 1000Kg object, it would accelerate at 1m/s^2 and after one second of a constant 1000N force it would be travelling at 1m/s. However, gravity accelerates any object on earth by 9.81m/s^2 regardless of its mass. Galileo showed this by dropping a cannonball and a musket ball off the leaning tower of Pisa, both hit the ground at the same time.

What this means is that both a 1kg case and a 1000kg case would hit the floor at the same time but if both stopped moving in the same time (impacts are not instantaneous) the force experienced by the 1000kg case would be 1000 times as great;

Lets say that both cases hit the floor at 10m/s and come to rest in 0.1 seconds

For the 1kg case F=MA = 1kg x (10m/s / 0.1s) = 100N

For the 1000kg case F=MA = 1000 x (10m/s / 0.1s) = 100,000N

If, for example the 1kg case were suspended so that the time of impact were increased to 1 second then the average force would be only 1N while for the 1000kg, rigid case coming to rest in 0.1 second it would still be 100,000N

Sarcasm or not you're still wrong.

Moriquendi

 

The only way I could see this even remotely working is a pico-ITX with an SSD. There will be no performance, hardly any heat and due to those two things hardly any challenge either. Seems like either you make it piss easy or it's impossible.

 

heheheheheh, i've had the very same idea for a mode case, water proof, impact proof.

the best way to achieve this its with trying to avoid any moving parts in the system.

SSD drive, passively cooled CPU. Why I came up with my plan its a case inside a case, the inner case would be of aluminium and it would hold your hardware in place, maybe you could mode the pasive cooling of the cpu so it can transfer heat to the inner case (some padding between the cooler and the case for the tranfer??).

The inner case would be attached to an outter case with some coil springs to absorb the impact...

That like a generic idea of what I would do, havent tried it to build it yet...

 

Drywall is softer than ABS. Try spiking it into concrete.


-You would need adjustable brackets to hold all the components and keep them from flexing. ...Possibly around all the pcb edges. The mobo heatsink would need to be bolted directly to the tray as well.
-Do the whole frame in welded 1/8" steel angle iron. Side panels could be sealed with high-heat automotive silicone.
-You will need a removable outer casing with gaskets to cover the cooling and I/O. This casing should be covered with space shuttle tiles. Obviously, you can not use the computer while it's covered.

There's no perfect solution. The tiles would not survive an impact, for example.

-You could also seal the case airtight with pressurized nitrogen inside. The cooling would be applied with TEC plates covering the outer casing. The outside could be a massive aluminum heatsink for the TECs. The outside would be made fireproof, ( and cooled,) By submersing it in a water fountain. You would need special connectors used in the submersible industry.

 

I chucked my old trakphone at the floor. The results: Colorful screen, silence and the phone had a slight curve, kinda like a katana.