Sentinel Pi Case (Pi3B and Pi4B)

Howdy, amazing people!  This is a long post! :D

The way ideas and designs develop is something that really intrigues me, even when I'm in the middle of it!  Yep, it's another Raspberry Pi case, and while this one is somewhat more ambitious than the other recent ones it couldn't have come about without them paving the way (and providing a few design elements).

I had a couple of particular design goals here:

1) A Pi camera mount had to be involved.

2) Cooling fan should be optionally available.

3) The case needed to be an appealing stand-alone design that could sit on a desk and look interesting.

And that's what we have here!  It's a somewhat industrial looking case with an articulated camera arm protruding from it.  Let's run through the way this thing is assembled, and talk about some of the features on the way!

Assembly Guide

Yep, an assembly guide!  This has a fair few parts involved!  Well, at least by Pi case standards.  Here they are:

But, let's start with just the parts for the camera enclosure and mount.  The camera stuff is entirely optional - you can skip all these pieces if you want, and just use the case camera-free!

Here are the parts for the camera stuff:

You'll notice that the bit that encloses the camera board is hinged.  I had to get a hinge in there somewhere :)  But put that aside for now and pick up:

* Camera Bolt

* Camera Nut

* Camera Housing Backplate

* Camera Mount Link

Assemble them as follows, but bear in mind that how you choose to route the camera cable is arbitrary.  The slot and the angled loop in the Camera Mount Link design are intended to be used for neat routing if you want it.

Note, however, that you'll need the ribbon to go through the Camera Housing Backplate as shown so that it can connect to the board in the next step.

Having said to assemble as per the photo, I'll now say that you don't have to. The Camera Mount Link piece is optional, and you can in fact just attach the Camera Housing Backplate to the main case.  Furthermore, you can have as many Camera Mount Links as you like, and make a long chain if your camera ribbon cable stretches far enough!  Just print more Camera Nuts and Bolts to join them to each other.

Okay, now attach the ribbon cable to the camera board, and put the camera board into the Camera Housing:

Fold the Camera Housing carefully closed, then move the Camera Housing Backplate over the top of the folding lid part.  It should be pretty obvious now why the ribbon cable had to route through the Camera Housing Backplate! 

Last thing, screw in the Camera Housing Screw Cap carefully, to hold it all together.  And that completes the camera assembly!

Now let's put together the internal frame.  There are two models for the frame itself - one for Pi3B and the other for Pi4B.  Take the one you've printed, and put the board in place.

Now we're going to add the fan - you can skip this bit if you're not using a fan!

Assuming you are using a fan, though, start by putting the fan caddy in place.  The caddy allows for a 30mm fan at present, but you'll notice that it also has room for a 40mm fan too.  Support for 40mm fans that requires a different Fan Ring, coming soon, so stick to a 30mm fan for now.  With the caddy and fan in place, it should look like this:

Screw the Fan Ring carefully over the top to hold the fan and caddy in place.  Route the fan cable appropriately so it doesn't get pinched when things are closed.

Now it's time to connect the camera!

Take the two assemblies we just built:

Now, there are a couple of options for where to route the ribbon cable.  The photo below shows it routing up through a slot behind the hinges, though that is mostly intended to provide access to the display ribbon connector.  The intended routing points out of the case are:

* Behind the display connector through the hinges

* Over the top of the Ethernet port (extra space has been included above it)

* Above the ports on the side (extra space has been included.

However you route it, consider whether it will obstruct the flow of air, especially if you're trying to use fan cooling.

Be careful with both the fan wires and the ribbon cable when closing the case up so that nothing gets pinched! :)

We're getting close now!  Time to build all this into the outer plates!

Take one Side Plate and four Bolts and arrange them like so:

Decide where you want to mount the camera.  It can go on any of the four bolts, limited only by how long your camera cable is!

With the camera on one of the bolts, position the internal frame on the side plate:

Take a moment to add the Camera Tension Nut onto the bolt that has the camera.  This nut will be used to hold the camera in position after position adjustment.

And now, there's only one thing left!  Add the remaining Side Plate and use Nuts to hold it all together!  

We are done!

Printing Tips

All parts are designed for straightforward printing, with no tricky angles and no support required.  Following are guides to orientation of each part:

Camera components: 

Frame and fan components:

Side plate components:

File Location

You'll find all the files on dropbox under 813 Sentinel Pi Case

Final Thoughts

I have a Sentinel Case sitting on my desk right now, spying on me.  

Totally ominous, I tell you.

Happy printing!

xoxo

Sven.