We need enclosures

Development Suggestions for the Arduino Project
#1

I just want to start by saying that Arduino makes some really awesome stuff and I very much enjoy making projects using the various different boards. There are a few projects, however, that I would like to take to the next level, making them somewhat permanent and more or less relieving me of the temptation of taking them apart to make something else. I feel what would help with all of that a lot would be a nice case / enclosure to put the board in. Especially the Esplora. It's a great board and I like that it has so many sensors and various things attached to it. Every time I pick mine up I think of three more things I want to do with them, but every time I start thinking through a project I come to one point, every time. I don't have a case to put it in.

The other point to mention is that while I have friends with 3D printers, they are using them to print things all the time so my prints end up at the bottom of a rolling waiting list. It would be awesome if there was an off-the-shelf project case for the Esplora, or maybe even a few variations. A lot of projects I have seen have a display on the Esplora, so a case with a cutout for the display would be my first suggestion and maybe alternate top and bottom case halves so one could mix and match depending on if they need it to be wireless thus necessitating additional space on the under side for a battery pack or maybe a different cutout on the top half to make room for an XBee.

That's my two cents, I know there is a lot going on here and maybe this would be a suggestion better purposed to a partner vendor but I wanted to submit it as close to the source as possible first.

Thanks for reading.

#2

Whilst I appreciate your sentiments I would have thought that if there was a market for such a case then a third party would be making them already. After all, they do for the Uno, RPi, etc.

#3

I agree with you somewhat, but I think there are also a lot less people building projects with the Esplora than there are people building things with the various other boards out there and I think that part of that may simply be because of it's size and shape. Obviously, at first glance, anybody can see that it looks like a video game controller. because of that, a lot of the projects featuring this board are variations of video game controllers and wireless controllers for other projects. All of my robots are autonomous so I don't need a controller and I've already got video game controllers. But If I was able to put this thing in a case to improve it's feel and protect it (and my hands) better, I would try and do more with it. Hanging onto a bare circuit board isn't much fun and it sure isn't pretty.

I just hate to see the Esplora lose popularity and suffer from a lack of shields and other goodies because of it's shape because it has a lot of sensors on it that are great for beginners.

#4