The iGEPv2 is a great hardware to develop your next whiz bang embedded project. Whether you are making a media player, robot controller or wearable PC, this powerful and versatile single-board computer will likely do what you need. It supports stereo sound, streams HD video and can includes Ethernet, Wifi, Bluetooth, USB, serial, I2C, etc. for connecting with other devices. For these reasons, I and my fellow founders at AndroidMakers chose the iGEPv2 as the hardware brains for APEX (Android Platform for Experimenters), a platform we’re building to simplify using the Android OS beyond the mobile phone.

When you buy an iGEPv2 kit, you get a circuit board roughly the size of a deck of cards and a universal 5V power supply. Here’s a pic of the board:

A Case in Point

While you can get by with this spartan setup, you will probably want to put the board inside a plastic or metal enclosure if you plan to carry it around. In fact, even if your device is not portable it is still a good idea to encase it to protect against damage from static, coffee spills and other nasty elements. So now you are faced with a choice: buy the case or make one?

The fast route would be to buy a ready-made acrylic case from the ISEE Shop. It looks professional and well-built, but I cringe at the thought of paying USD$30 + S&H for what is really just pieces of plastic. To be fair, most of that cost pays for the expensive laser-cutting. But I’d rather save my money for something else.

So I decided to build my own enclosure. I started by looking for a plain plastic case that I can retool. First I searched the Web, then visited a Standard 5 & 10 ACE variety store on the way to work where a friendly manager named Josh helped me land on this great idea:

Yep, you guessed it … a travel soap box. (NOTE: I’m really glad that these mom-and-pop variety stores still exist. They are a treasure trove  for hard-to-find project parts.)

Part 2: Hacking the Soap Box

Posted on Saturday, February 6th, 2010 and filed under Blog