Kurt’s keyboard would work nicely.
Encoders give you step and direction, but unless they are “absolute”, you can’t just turn them to a selection.
Alan KM6VV
personally i would keep things simple. not just for the benefits of my brain but also for the cost.
you could always settle on a design and sell the cases with blanks that can be removed in order to add other units and peripherals.
kinda like what you get when you buy the lexan parts.
What a great idea innerbreed…!
Careful, Lexan is a world apart from acrylic. Lexan can be laser cut and leave tabs for break-away parts, but acrylic, not so much. Acrylic (what most custom laser shops cut) is very brittle and can’t be used in this way.
Tanks a lot Robot Dude. I was going that way… 
only a metaphor for the idea. removable panels. again another way might be to say 'like what you get on a car dashboard. the blanks can pop out to add more things. 
yes thats it.
Ok… now with the keypad.
It’s the keypad that Kurte send me infos. And i have ordered 2 of thoses keypad.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5096/5469277542_cbf520b946.jpg
It also have 2 sliders that i have sourced:
ca.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/PTL60-15G1-103B2/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMurJeyiEZqTm9XfOHX99Jp%2fUhej8i2MgaA%3d
Ok… any other things ?
@innerbreed:
I will make a blank plate for the hole of the Keypad, with 4 holes.
@Robot Dude:
Do you know if i should put a gap in the parts that imbricate (to and side plate)
i mean it’s 3mm and the slot should be more ? or 3mm slot is good ?
Most acrylic is extruded, and will likely be less than the indicated thickness. In normal practice you just design the slot to be the thickness of the material and use the kerf of the laser (usually about 3-5 thousandths) to ensure it will assemble.
Tanks a lot for providing this information.
What do you think of the design ?
yes it would be a good idea to use the holes already in the plate. so the blanks can then be removed and the screws reused to mount the selected part.
Ok… Have a look…
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5469419324_528898c52f.jpg
High Res:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5469419324_528898c52f_b.jpg
To save on the amount of parts needed to assemble each blank, you could always make the blanks slightly larger than the hole. This way you wouldn’t need to make little parts that will hold them together. also the blank could be mounted inside or out of the case. i know it wouldn’t look as flush but i think it might be easier to remove and add blanks without removing the main plate cover.
I have already been down the acrylic tab and slot building method road. It’s difficult to build an assembly that doesn’t squeak when handled. The worst issue is the non rounded edges. It can be done, but…
Personally I would keep it simple. That is I believe there are several common things that should be included:
a) 2 Gimbels.
b) Keypad
c) Display
d) Some extra switches
Some of the difficulties with this simple list is that there are many different options of displays and keyboards. So it may be hard to design a global case that handles a wide variety of options, from a simple 16x2 display like our current ones use, or the OLED I think you are using or maybe something in between…
Some nice things to have:
a) A way to charge battery without having to remove cover. I (and others) did this with a type M connector like: radioshack.com/product/index … Id=2102491. I wired mine such that if the charger is plugged in, it breaks the contact from the battery to the controller, so the charger only charges the battery…
b) A way to reprogram the microcontroller without having to open the case. Since our original ones used BB2s with BAP28s installed, I wired a simple DB9 to DB9 extension cable that mounted to the outside of the case. I believe you are using the Arduino Mega clone that uses the larger USB connector. Not sure if there are easy extensions to be made/had or if simply leaving a hole in the case…
Yes for the Arduino i was thinking to make a hole on the side to let the usb and power accessible.
I will try the BOTBOARD to make fit the same way.
For Charging the batteries… I don’t know a good way since i want to use LiPo… and they Balance charge… 
Ok…
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5470085286_1547b4feee.jpg
High Res:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5055/5470085286_1547b4feee_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5469492439_cb68d946a0.jpg
High Res:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5217/5469492439_cb68d946a0_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5469569507_f49eaa232b.jpg
High Res:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5216/5469569507_f49eaa232b_b.jpg
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5469569441_3cc2aea722.jpg
High Res:
farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5469569441_3cc2aea722_b.jpg
I have send a Quote… will keep people informed…
Pictures look great. For the BB2, the 9pin on one side so you could probably get it to align. I hear you with using a Lipo battery. As I have mentioned in other threads so far I have kept away from them…
As I mentioned in the previous post, I would keep it simple. but every once in awhile I wonder what someone like Zenta could do if it also had some form of tilt sensor… Things like if you lean the remote to the left maybe the robot leans left…
Kurt
Yes i have the idea behind my head… but i think for now i will keep more simple… LOL
Yes i know, i don’t know for now… i have a lot of LiPo laying around… But i have made cutout on the bottom to pass hook&Loop of standard 3800Nimh cell.
I have made a little SolidWork test with it and it should align in the same hole i have made for ArduinoMega