Over time we’ve seen no scarcity of 3D printed instances designed to carry a number of Raspberry Pi computer systems, usually with the intent to make use of them as handy desktop-sized platforms for experimenting with ideas comparable to server load balancing and redundancy.
The rationale the Pi was all the time the star of the present is straightforward sufficient to clarify: they have been small and low cost. However whereas the Pi has solely gotten dearer through the years, x86 machines have shrunk and cheaper. Which is how a mission just like the N100 Obelisk was born.
Because the title implies, [Jay Doscher] has packed this printed tower of energy with quite a lot of mini computer systems using the Intel N100 CPU, specifically the QC12 from Beelink. At $250 a pop they’re undoubtedly a dearer choice 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 is able to match as much as 5 of the machines without delay. Although [Jay] notes that warmth may grow to be a problem at that time, so 4 looks as if a safer quantity. The entrance panel of every laptop might be accessed by way of a cut-out in a single facet of the case, whereas the rear (and all of the cables) are lined with simply detachable panels ought to it is advisable to get in there and reconfigure something.
With the whole lot 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 model, and it definitely looks as if the mission was completed on that entrance.
After all, 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 provides contact assist. Right here it’s been rotated into portrait orientation to offer loads of vertical house, making it superb for engaged on the command line, writing code, or scrolling by way of lengthy paperwork. Don’t want a display? No downside — the case has been designed in such a manner that you would be able to forgo the show and fill within the opening with extra of the printed panels.
As we’ve seen together with his earlier initiatives, [Jay] has a knack for turning extruded plastic into gadgets which can be each practical and visually hanging. We’re all the time excited when one in every of his creations come our manner, and might’t wait to see what he’s obtained in retailer for the long run.
