2U form factor chassis-custom PC Enclosure

The Ask

Requirement was to convert a tower PC into a 2U form factor PC incorporating all the sub-assemblies appropriately re-positioned without disturbing their intended functionalities. 

Challenges

1. The assembly included a hot-swapable HDD sub-assembly including a pair of guide rails, power and data connectors, locking mechanism and indicators on the front fascia.  

2. Top cover needed intrusion detection switch to be precisely mounted to detect removal of the top cover which exposes all internal CICD components making them prone to theft and tamper. 

3. EMI posed a big challenge since the orientation of the mainboard was changed from vertical to horizontal exposing larger surface demanding more grounding features including a foam-based EMI shield and EMI clips at the rear edge of the chassis.  

4. The on/off controls and system indicators had to be mounted on the rear instead of being mounted on the front - cable lengths had to be considered while re-designing the positions. 

5. Air flow of the chamber in which this entire new PC was housed had flow directions demanding the SMPS to be shifted to the front so that cold air enters from behind and hot air leaves from front. Thermal simulations helped aligning and positioning fans and SMPS appropriately to ensure noise levels do not shoot and system is able to stabilize at a lower operating temperature.  

Execution

After all of this, I had prototyped 10 samples to perform various validations to confirm thermals, noise levels, structural rigidity and conformity to customer expectations. Further to confirming all physical and performance testing results, I had transitioned the design for mass production and ensured smooth delivery as per committed timelines.