My rackmount OSSC project
- This topic has 2 replies, 3 voices, and was last updated May 21, 2024 at 4:26 PM by
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Hi all, I just finished a project to put my OSSC into a rackmount case and thought I’d share it in case anyone finds it interesting. (For the avoidance of doubt, this is a one-off hobby project; I’m not trying to garner business here). Apologies if this isn’t the best place to post this!
Anyway, I wanted to put my OSSC in a rack-mount case, and also to have it controlled remotely by a computer. I did think of just using IR with the remote, but decided to add RS232 capability instead, since IR can be a bit fiddly. I did this by exposing an i2c management interface on the OSSC, which is then connected to a little microcontroller that handles all the command-line interface stuff – I was a bit worried about running out of FPGA resources with the OSSC modifications, so I wanted to keep the text processing off the FPGA itself. I added a little relay so I can turn the OSSC on/off via RS232, too.
The management interface exposes the ability to change input, and also to change any settings on the OSSC, which means that I can have a central computer turn on the OSSC and change all the settings according to which videogame I’ve selected.
I also changed the display – I found the original i2c LCD difficult to mount, plus I really like how VFDs look, so I tweaked the OSSC code to support a text-mode VFD. The VFD just speaks the 4bit LCD protocol so it wasn’t too difficult to support.
Then I bought a ‘blank’ rackmount box on AliExpress, designed the faceplate in FreeCAD, and milled it on my little Sherline mill. I did the graphic/text engraving via a lasercutter, my xTool, via LightBurn.
Anyway, I was kinda proud of how it came out (electronics and CNC isn’t really my forté, so it was something of a learning experience), and I thought you might be interested to see what people are doing with your hardware, so I thought I’d share it!
Yay for open-source making this kind of thing possible 🙂
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