vertical space (was Re: 3D Scanning)

[Werner Almesberger]

Ron K. Jeffries wrote:
> Let;s consider at the same time increasing the vertical depth
> of the bottom half of the nanonote case, to allow greater freedom for
> adding PCB(s).

Hmm, it'a already fairly thick compared to the other dimensions.
Another way to get more space would be to reduce the size of the
main PCB.

The total vertical space available at the moment is quite large,
so most modern components - including many connectors - should
fit.

You can also tweak things a little to save space. For example,
I used the following techniques for IDBG:

- use of a thin PCB. At the DIY electronics corner shop, you'll
  typically find PCBs with a thickness of 1.6 mm. For such a
  small board, 0.8 mm are more than sufficient. They're a little
  harder to obtain, but they exist. You can even find bare PCBs
  as thin as 0.4 mm.

- use of a mid-mounted component. The USB receptacle is not
  mounted above the board but it rests in a hole in the board,
  saving 1.25 mm of precious height.

  See also
  http://www.almesberger.net/misc/ben/idbg-v1-pcb.jpg
  and
  http://www.almesberger.net/misc/ben/idbg-v1-side.jpg

- case modding. The whole assembly was still a little too thick
  to fit. So I dug a hole for the top of the connector:

  http://www.almesberger.net/misc/ben/idbg-v1-hole.jpg

Most of this could also be applied to other designs.

- Werner