An Arduino is a single-board computer that was originally designed as an open-source prototyping platform, but has evolved into being a powerful unit capable of controlling a number of different devices, robotics systems, art creations, and everything in between. Just do a Google search for Arduino projects, and you'll see the overwhelming capabilities of this little PCB. "What does that have to do with machining?" You might ask.
While the Arduino board is quite capable, the $50 unit is sold with the frugal in mind - it doesn't come with an enclosure of any kind. In fact, our's shipped to Tormach with an anti-static bag for packing material. This leaves all of the tender electronics bits exposed to the world, which is a bad idea if you're going to do anything with it. We did what we do best at Tormach, got a chunk of random scrap metal and started cutting. After some refinement, we've put together a project in the Tormach Projects Library, so anybody can make, tweak, or redesign the Arduino enclosure that we put together. In the project library, you'll find a step-by-step walkthrough on how to hold aluminum stock for this part, as well as the CAD and CAM files for download. Personally, I'm hoping we can really put this new enclosure to the test by putting it in a miniature BattleBot, but only time will tell.
Project Files coming soon!
Do you have cool ideas for a project that should be in the Tormach Projects Library? Email marketing@tormach.com and let us know!
