Unified Control Box for an Embedded System

As part of the embedded control system I'm building, I needed a means to safely house all the interface hardware. I wanted a means to protect and have the internal hardware accessible for future wiring.

The nervous system of my automation setup is the Labjack u3 hv. I put it in a 7inch square PVC box together with an 8-relay card plus a 5volt DC DC converter. All of these I stuck to the PVC with black silicone adhesive.

A DC DC boost converter from 12V to 19V is what I need to power the netbook of my automation setup. I used an optical mouse circuit board plus a timer delay relay to automatically wake the netbook from sleep mode (i.e. simulate momentary pressing of the left click button when 12V is applied). All of these components I secured with black silicone adhesive to the inside of the PVC box cover.

I drilled holes and used 2 small cable ties to make a hinge for the lid. I will use the 4 screws to properly secure the lid prior to final installation.

Now I have a better arrangement for the prototyping of my automation system!