A higher-up at my job sent me a message late yesterday afternoon after I’d already left about something he wants printed. He he has no file (except for a SCAD mock-up), but proceeded to give me a list of vague directions amounting to a wishlist of features (including “an internal acoustic tunnel or mesh to prevent direct contact with the microphone”), a SCAD file that only represents the outermost measurements (among other issues), and this photo:
I just have so many questions about what I’m looking at. I mean, it’s obviously an enclosure consisting of two mating halves, but beyond that… let’s start in the upper right corner and go mostly clockwise. “Rear / Room Facing Side” It’s the back but it faces the room? Wouldn’t that just make it the front? Moving on down, we can see the silicone feet on the bottom of the enclosure (as we’d expect), but the image of the “Right Side (USB-C)” has the silicone feet on what should be the back. It seems to have top and rear vents but the render doesn’t show any top vents. Then there’s the mic ports and that’s where I’m doubting my sanity. They’re supposed to be on the rear, but this shows them just below the seam of the two halves, which would make it the top. The silicone feet on the bottom indicate that the two halves of the enclosure should “stack” with a seam running horizontally like this:
But this isn’t what’s shown in the upper left image (which, according to the wishlist, is facing backwards) or indicated by the “Right Side (USB-C)” image. Those both make it look as if the seam is vertical like this:
Finally, there’s the lower left image, which shows the halves creating a horizontal seam, no place for the “diffuser screen”, a battery holder with wires going nowhere, standoffs that don’t line up with anything in the enclosure, and is overall a completely different shape and form factor from all the other images.
I’m going to let him down gently, but I also like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Am I missing something fundamentally obvious here or is this just slop?
The first article enclosure is a two piece 3D printed housing with a translucent front diffuser.
External dimensions:
Width: 150 mm
Height: 75 mm
Depth: 32 mm
Nominal wall: 2.2 mm
Corner radius: 5 mm
Orientation:
The translucent beacon face points toward the window.
The microphone ports face the room.
The unit sits on the sill using four silicone feet.
USB-C enters from the right side.
The optional battery lead enters internally from a three AA holder mounted in the rear cavity.
Front optical area:
Nominal clear or translucent window: 120 mm x 45 mm.
Lens material for prototype: 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm translucent green or frosted clear acrylic or polycarbonate.
Maintain 10 mm to 20 mm spacing between LEDs and diffuser to reduce visible hot spots.
Line the optical cavity with white matte material or print it in white to improve mixing.
Microphone opening:
Use three 2.0 mm diameter holes on the room facing rear or upper surface.
Center spacing: 3.5 mm.
Place an internal acoustic tunnel or mesh to prevent direct contact with the microphone.
Do not seal the microphone cavity.
PCB mounting:
Four M3 standoffs matching the PCB hole pattern.
Use M3 x 6 mm screws.
Maintain at least 3 mm clearance below the PCB and 4 mm above the tallest component.
Ventilation:
Provide small slots on the upper rear face. Do not place vents where direct window condensation can drip onto the PCB.
Materials:
Prototype housing: PETG preferred over PLA for improved heat tolerance in a sunlit window.
Diffuser: frosted polycarbonate or acrylic.
Feet: adhesive silicone.
The included mechanical/firelight_enclosure.scad is a parametric starting model for the base, lid, board standoffs, microphone openings, USB opening, and optical window.
I’m going to tell him that if I had those internal components and the diffuser screen (which he says he’s going to make using one of our other machines) I could maybe design an enclosure around them.
I would think you could get the bulk of it from the description but there are still a few details for which having the components would be very helpful.
That’s about what I would have come up with. I’ll just have to wait and see at this point. In any case, it’s good to know I’m not crazy and just being given the runaround by a slop render.
I have no idea what it is and he didn’t say (He’s only just now responded as I’m writing this to say he’ll try to find something printable). Judging by the microphone inputs and the LED grid (that’s supposedly on the PCB), the best I can think of is some kind of Color Organ, but it makes no sense to have it facing out a window.
Without even looking at the images closely you can tell it’s AI-generated just from the organization of the graphic. This is some proper gibberish though. Really wonder what this is intended to be.
