Electronics Box

thingiverse

This box is engineered to house a variety of electronics that feature a widely available 20X4 LCD display module and rotary encoder. The front panel boasts a cutout for the LCD and mounting holes, which include standoffs so the LCD fits flush with the surface. The LCD module I'm using with this project can be found at https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yellow-Serial-IIC-I2C-TWI-2004-204-20X4-Character-LCD-Module-Display-For-Arduino/221968360793. The front panel also features a mounting hole for a rotary encoder, with the thickness of this mounting area carefully crafted to be thinner than the rest of the face plate. This design allows for easy installation of a rotary encoder using its threaded neck and surface mount nut. I'm utilizing the Adafruit Rotary Encoder, which can be found at https://www.adafruit.com/product/377. The top of the box slides into place along an integrated track, while the back of the box screws on securely with mounting holes. The electronics inside the box are mounted on a piece of lexan that I cut to size. I drilled holes in the lexan and used nylon screw standoffs to mount an Arduino board and protoboard. The bottom mounting holes inside the box feature a square edge at the top, allowing the piece of lexan to rest neatly on top. For the lexan standoffs, I relied on Adafruit's product #3658, available at https://www.adafruit.com/product/3658. By printing the body of the box with the face plate facing down, users should be able to avoid using supports altogether. A picture of the body still on the print bed is included for reference.