Mobile Linux Project In Ammo Canister

Chaosrider writes "Army Linux is a mobile development platform constructed from a 50-caliber ammunition canister. This site documents the development of an embedded Linux project, which features a backlit LCD screen, a VIA technologies Mini-ITX form factor motherboard and a 1U power supply. The site covers construction techniques, costs and hardware installation." The site also points to a similar PC-in-ammo-box project at Epiacenter.com.

Comments

Once Again

[stratjakt]

An article about shoving an epia board into something other than a PC case. I get it already, the boards are small.

It goes without saying, of course, that this wouldn't be news if the installed OS was anything but lunix.

They epia boards are relatively gutless, and frankly the "easy way" to make a small form factor PC. I want to see some FlexATX boards with honest-to-god processing power in these boxes.

Myself, I'm working on fitting a flexATX board with a P3 800 (I cant remember the model now, I got it on eBay for 20 bucks on a whim) into a hacked PSX arcade stick. With built-in tv-out and mame it'll make a really funky portable arcade. Of course, I have big heat issues and others to solve, which makes it fun.

I've built other boxes with great success using Shuttles spacewalker mainboards (I think the FV25 is the greatest thing since sliced bread for a small, cheap, but useful PC)

I dunno, this just isnt all that interesting. You may as well just crazy glue a Zaurus inside the ammo box. It'll be faster.

Re:Once Again

[stratjakt]

And therein lies the challenge, the solution to which would impress me.

The fan doesn't have to sit on the CPU as per convention, in such a small box you could set it up such that air is drawn through a front vent, channelled through the heatsink, and funnelled straight out the back. You turn the seeming disadvantage of very little space into an advantage (no stale air pockets, constant flow like a little windtunnel)

This is the approach I'm taking with my portable arcade project, and it works exceedingly well. I'm actually getting better cooling than the stock intel heatsink was giving me, and all from one of those cheap "drive cooler" deals, with the three little 40 mm fans that fit in a 5.25 bay and a 1u rackmount heatsink.

My next series of problems is the back i/o panel. I plan to hardwire an AV socket from a butchered SNES so I can use one of their AV cables, as well as a generic power cable (PSX or stereo kind)

I'm no engineer, and I'm sure there are folks out there who can solve such problems much better than I.

Re:wow AMAZING

[stratjakt]

Gimme a link to the sump pump article. We've had a ton of rain this summer, and I'm constantly running down to the basement to make sure my sump pumps are working, paranoid of the consequences should they fail. The ball cocks (heh) on the little sliding pole get gunked up so easily and refuse to move (and turn on the pump). Especially considering they sit in sludge 24/7.

I'd love it if they'd email me when they come on, shut off, especially when the water level rises and they dont come on.

A buddy of mine had about 80 grand worth of damage to his newly finished basement when it flooded.

Web enabling my sump pumps is news I can use!

Re:Embedded.

[gl4ss]

there's one definition i like (don't know how accurate it is): if it is obvious that there is a computer inside it isn't embedded(that is, when you use the thing you know and think that you're working with a computer).

Dammit, I made one of these

[NetDrain]

I have a 30mm ammo box Linux machine sitting right next to me that I built in August of 2001 from sheer boredom. Apparently the editors didn't like my submission, oh well.

Take a look yourself here. It's running Gentoo now instead of Redhat, and there have been some other subtle modifications in that time, but it's largely the same machine. And 30mm explosive rounds are a TON more manly than wimpy 50 caliber. hehehehe

:D

Re:Homer sez: Booorrring!

[mrpuffypants]

Goddamnit!

Here's the real link!

Re:Homer sez: Booorrring!

[Anonymous Coward]

-ZapWizard

Cool, that is my PC!
not to get slashdot'ed but the link is:
http://www.zapwizard.com/lanpc

Skeleton mod!

[RobertB-DC]

It would apply if you said "if we managed to stick a computer in your skull after removing your useless brain". Even then I'd say it's nothing special, although somewhat cool in a gothy sort of way...

Someone, someday, will have to make a "mod" using one of those high school classroom skeletons. Now *that* would be a gothy mod:

* Motherboard (including the processor, or heart of the system) suspended in the chest cavity.

* Hard drive (long-term memory) mounted in the cranium.

* Power supply (fuel source) clamped to the spine below the ribcage, where the stomach once resided.

* Eye sockets would be a good place for your HDD activity and power lights. Also on the skull are the logical locations for the speaker and microphones.

* The right hand would hold the power cord. In the left, the peripheral connections (USB, mouse, keyboard, etc).

* Of course, the connector for the screen should be at the base of the skull. The location of the game controller port will not be discussed here.

* And to top it all off, a watercooler for the overclocked CPU can have piping and radiators throughout the body! An appropriately-colored fluid would help with leak detection.

Ooh, this is now getting *too* creepy.

On the other hand... it could be worse. Gunther von Hagens has some pretty extreme "case mods" at his BodyWorlds expositions...

Times are a changin.

[wideBlueSkies]

My Dad used to use an ammo box as a toolbox. It was just the right size to carry the socket sets and wrenches he used for automotive work.

He'd get a good kick out of seeing a computer running out of one.

wbs.