Ruggedized Laptop

[Pkekyo-Nor]

At work today I realized I really need (read: want, no particular reason, but want) a ruggedized laptop.

I've looked through the options for ruggedized laptops in the past, and quite frankly - the offerings are poop, particularly cost-wise.

 

So I started pondering how to make one myself.

 

 

Initial thoughts:

 

 

- ASUS EEE PC 901 w/ 12 or 16GB SSD Drive, Black

- Pelican 1450 Case in OD or Black

- USB hub

- Extensions for all input/output interfaces (audio in/out, VGA-out, power etc)

- GPS unit

- Silicone keyboard

 

- Sheet of transparent 2-4mm Polycarbonate

- Silicone molding equipment

- Blocks of metal (thus far undecided which metal)

- Ceramic tiles/sheets

- *fruitcage*loads of patience.

 

All hard objects will be mounted with adhesive velcro inside the case, to ensure they are removable if need-be.

Female velcro will be attached to the objects themselves, male velcro will be attached in the relevant areas of the case and additionally secured with a hot glue gun.

 

 

Asus EEE 901 PC dimensions: 9.0" x 6.9" x 1.6"

Pelican 1450 Case dimensions: 14.62" x 10.18" x 6"

 

 

The idea is to mate the laptop completely with the Pelican case;

When you open the lid, you also open the laptop. I'm still not entirely sure what would be the best way to achieve this, but I suspect the monitor might have to be disconnected.

The foam will in turn have a sheet of transparent polycarbonate attached to it, in effect covering the entire surface of the Pelican's lid with polycarbonate, and the monitor will be recessed as much as 3-4mm into the foam on in the lid. This to assure the survival of the laptop monitor in case feces should happen to impact the ceiling-mounted rotary ventilation device.

I'm thinking that the best way of mounting the polycarbonate sheet would be to line the entire inner edge of the case by using a hot glue gun, then just put in the sheet that's all ready cut to fit and hold it in place until the glue hardens.

 

In the lower part of the case, the only part of the laptop itself I want to be visible and accessible is the mousepad itself.

To make this happen, I suppose I'd have to cut the foam into two pieces, the upper approx. 1.5" tall and the other filling the rest of the lower half of the case.

In the upper 1.5" sheet of foam, I would carve out designated room for the lower laptop half, one for the USB hub, one for the GPS unit, and slits to run extension-cables from the various outlets on the laptop and USB hub to the right side of the case.

Lastly, I would cut a slit in the upper foam sheet to feed the USB cable for the silicone keyboard through, then glue the cable in place in aforementioned slit once properly connected to the USB hub.

 

And then I'm done with the laptop fitting itself, seems easy enough, right? Hardly:

 

Netbooks like the Asus EEE series are notoriously known for over-heating easily just from normal table-top use, and in a foam-lined case this can only get worse - a lot worse.

I see two options I can choose to remedy this issue:

 

1 - Build a heat-sink of sorts (out of the aforementioned metal blocks) and place it literally directly under the laptop's fan unit.

2 - Build a heat-sink, tear out the fan unit and actually fit the heat-sink directly to the heat-generating components themselves.

 

I would much prefer the former, but I'm afraid it just won't have enough of an effect in negating the heat, and I'll have to go for actually fitting the heat-sink.

 

Whichever way it turned out, I would cut a "shaft" in the foam directly underneath the fan unit all the way to the bottom of the case and through the entire depth of the case approx 1cm wider than the fan unit itself on either side.

The purpose of this would be to have room for a large heat-sink to quickly dissipate the heat, and keep the foam away from anything warm.

Granted, the case is made out of plastic, but it should definitely stand up to 30-40 degrees centigrade without any problems.

Placing ceramic tiles between the foam and heat-sink is also an alternative I find worth entertaining.

 

The next task would be to set up an external connector plate, for this I suppose I would have to drill appropriate sized holes for the audio and power connectors, and cut square holes for the extensions coming from the USB hub.

To keep these in place, I think I'd simply cover them completely in hot glue on the inside of the case once placed where I'd like them and leave it at that. Should do for decent water-proofing of the holes as well.

To finish off this part of the project, I'd mold silicone plugs to keep the external connectors safe from the elements when not in use, and lastly cover all wires inside the case with hot glue so there won't be any travel in that aspect.

 

 

 

Thoughts, ideas and suggestion - I'd love it all, I want this project to become the best it can be.

[DFM56]

I think your best bet for cooling would be to modify the bottom half of the laptop to allow for greater heat transfer from the original fan (widen the grill, cut out some of the case, etc..), and add a larger fan below it (should be able to find a USB powered one). that could vent out the top of the case somehow. A heat sink that isn't attached directly to the components generating heat will be terribly inefficient, and I don't think you would get sufficient cooling with just a heatsink and no fan, regardless of the size. If you do make a larger heatsink, copper would probably be the way to go, as it is the most widely used material in aftermarket heatsinks for desktops. All of the heatsinks in my laptops are copper as well. If you directly attach it to the components, make sure you burnish it and get a good thermal compound. 

 

You will have to make the laptop bottom easily removable so you can get to it and clean out any dust or dirt that might get into it during use. In my experience, dust buildup is the single biggest contributing factor to heat production in a laptop.  

 

You'll probably want to add a rigid backing to the keyboard as well. I would imagine that typing on the silicone keyboard on top of a piece of foam would be very annoying since the keyboard is so flexible.  

 

 

[my_plague_666]

ventilation is what you need matey. leave an air channel in the foam and fit a fan either side of the casing, should provide good airflow over the CPU if done well without reducing the protection value. you could also butcher the laptop itself and fit a bigger heatsink.

 

if theres no airflow in the case it will overheat. a couple of 40mm fans on either side proving airflow over the CPU will allow for good ventilation.

[bankz5152]

One thing Id say is instead of going for SSD go for a HDD but with 'fall sensors' I cant remember exactly what their called but I can find out for you.

 

Basically once installed if the hard drive senses its being drop more than 2ft it automatically locks up preventing any damage to the drive.

[Pvt Daniel Jackson]

It may be worth getting an external pointing device, because if the only part of the lower laptop you want visible is the touch pad, it may be recessed a bit into the foam, whereas an external touch pad could sit flush like the keyboard would be

[Stealthbomber]

One thing Id say is instead of going for SSD go for a HDD but with 'fall sensors' I cant remember exactly what their called but I can find out for you.

 

Basically once installed if the hard drive senses its being drop more than 2ft it automatically locks up preventing any damage to the drive.

 

Not too sure about that.

 

a 2ft drop is a big event.

If you have a PC running in an active environment, damage to the HDD is MUCH more likely to occur as the result of smaller movements rather than one single event.

 

The G-sensors in some HDDs might be okay for saving your data when somebody trips over the power lead and pulls your laptop onto the floor but they're not going to help at all if your laptop is writing to the HDD while you are, for example, running with it.

They're designed to reduce the possibility of data loss during a single event. They're not designed to operate continuously in an active environment.

 

Aside from that, an SSD uses less leccy and generates less heat than a HDD which is a bonus.

 

SSDs are really the only way to go.

 

 

Personally, I'd probably think about going with summat like a HP TC1100 rather than a web-PC, depending on what you actually want to use it for.

 

You could use summat like a TC1100 with a bluetooth trackball and mini-keyboard and retain full functionality if you wanted to.

[bankz5152]

Oh right, sorry about that. I wasnt to sure on the information I was giving, thanks for clearing up!

[TbirdX]

We have just purchased, or rather, sold, 5 military grade ruggedized laptops to a firm we work for. Touch screen and, supposedly, bullet proof, at a unit cost of around $3000 (£1978) a go. With charging units and other add ons the total cost is around $7583 (£5000) per unit.

 

It's not a cheap hobby

[Pvt Daniel Jackson]

We have just purchased, or rather, sold, 5 military grade ruggedized laptops to a firm we work for. Touch screen and, supposedly, bullet proof, at a unit cost of around $3000 (£1978) a go. With charging units and other add ons the total cost is around $7583 (£5000) per unit.

 

It's not a cheap hobby

 

I wants one....

[ertgunner]

I wants one....

Dell.com

[SnakeHT]

Hello,

 

Not sure if this helps but you can buy Panasonic CF-27 Toughbooks on ebay for between £20-£30. They usually come without Hard Drives and the battery will be useless but the shell is there for you to use.

 

Take care

 

Snake

[Tom Andrews]

www.cheap-it.com sell them for £99 complete with HD.if it helps.