Over time we’ve seen no scarcity of 3D printed instances designed to carry a number of Raspberry Pi computer systems, typically with the intent to make use of them as handy desktop-sized platforms for experimenting with ideas similar to server load balancing and redundancy.
The explanation the Pi was all the time the star of the present is easy sufficient to elucidate: they had been small and low cost. However whereas the Pi has solely gotten costlier over time, x86 machines have reduced in size and cheaper. Which is how a venture just like the N100 Obelisk was born.
Because the identify implies, [Jay Doscher] has packed this printed tower of energy with a variety of mini computer systems using the Intel N100 CPU, specifically the QC12 from Beelink. At $250 a pop they’re positively a costlier possibility than the Pi 5. However with each packing 16 GB of RAM, a 512 GB NVME drive, plus the choice to plug in a SATA drive, you’re getting loads of bang to your computing buck.
Every QC12 lives by itself printed “shelf” contained in the case, which can match as much as 5 of the machines without delay. Although [Jay] notes that warmth may turn into a difficulty at that time, so 4 looks as if a safer quantity. The entrance panel of every laptop might be accessed via a cut-out in a single aspect of the case, whereas the rear (and all of the cables) are coated with simply detachable panels ought to you could get in there and reconfigure something.
With every thing all buttoned up, it seems to be prefer it may survive a bomb blast. Contemplating it took two rolls of filament and the higher a part of 100 M4 screws to place the factor collectively, we’d wager it doesn’t simply look robust, both. The write-up says the aim was for the ultimate product to have a sure brutalist fashion, and it definitely looks as if the mission was achieved on that entrance.
In fact, the actually standout characteristic of the Obelisk is the built-in Waveshare AMOLED show. This 13.3 inch panel boasts a decision of 2560×1440, and even affords contact help. Right here it’s been rotated into portrait orientation to offer loads of vertical area, making it supreme for engaged on the command line, writing code, or scrolling via lengthy paperwork. Don’t want a display screen? No downside — the case has been designed in such a method which you can forgo the show and fill within the opening with extra of the printed panels.
As we’ve seen along with his earlier tasks, [Jay] has a knack for turning extruded plastic into gadgets which might be each practical and visually hanging. We’re all the time excited when one among his creations come our method, and might’t wait to see what he’s bought in retailer for the longer term.
