My first question is whether anyone knows if the Arduino Uno and Freetronics Eleven are the same in terms of dimensions.
The Eleven is supposed to be the equivalent.
Im asking because I want to buy a case such that i can enclose my board and my project.
If possible I would like to have such that my 16X2 LCD is exposed to the outside such that I can use its buttons.
Does anything like this exist?
Size looks to be the same, or nearly so. With some digging you might find numbers to confirm. It can't be far from the Uno footprint though.
And, my god, $40 for an Uno clone? Really?! $15 is a heavy price to pay for a few prototyping holes, a better silk screen, and a real crystal on the chip.
A quick googling shows that Arduino Uno cases are abundantly available online.
That said, getting good cases that work well for what you're doing is always a challenge, because everyone wants a slightly different case. You want to fit the 16x2 character LCD on, but I want to fit a 3.1" COG 128x64 LCD, and someone else wants to use a colored TFT display. You need vent holes because you have a shield that gets hot, but the other guy wants to use it outside in the rain, so he needs it sealed. The arduino uno cases I saw on that quick google certainly don't give you much room for connected electronics.
Of course, if you have a 3d printer and know how to use it, you can make whatever shape case you want; I think this is what all the cool kids do.
Last time I needed a case, I grabbed a plastic bin off the shelf, dumped the crap out of it, cut some holes in it, and stuck my electronics inside, with scotch tape over exposed pins to prevent shorts.
To be fair, i didn't actually buy the freetronics - i found a spare lying around.
Yea Ive been looking at the Arduino cases
the TuxCase looks particularly promising. I'm trying to judge by the pictures whether the pins are in the same spot and the jacks etc.
Look at Bud Industries.