News Modder creates an awesome modular kinetic PC case — 3D-printed gears, wood, and acrylic combine to generate mesmerizing continual movements

[Admin]

In anticipation of creating the first kinetic case inspired by an unreleased Cyberpower Kinetic PC case, a modder makes a case with two modular panels with mechanical movements that create a smooth kinetic effect on the front panel!

Modder creates an awesome modular kinetic PC case — 3D-printed gears, wood, and acrylic combine to generate mesmerizing continual movements : Read more

 

[thestryker]

I'm a big fan of practical mods which none of this was, but it was really cool checking out his process. The amount of problems getting the big showpiece one working really speaks to why Cyberpower's design never came to market.

 

[Amdlova]

I really want build a case but this guy is another level

 

[bit_user]

Craftsmanship like this really impresses me.

I'd have to agree with @thestryker that I'm disappointed by the lack of any practical application or use the mod seems to have. I guess you could vary its "heart beat" relative to the CPU load, to show how hard it's working.

 

[coromonadalix]

you would need to indicidually control each of them,

that would be impressive but add some huge complexity ?

 

[USAFRet]

Craftsmanship like this really impresses me.

I'd have to agree with @thestryker that I'm disappointed by the lack of any practical application or use the mod seems to have. I guess you could vary its "heart beat" relative to the CPU load, to show how hard it's working.

It is artwork.

Not everything needs a "practical application".

 

[UnforcedERROR]

It is artwork.

Not everything needs a "practical application".

I agree completely.

The adage is "form over function" in these situations. There'd be visual trade-offs in building something practical.

Exclude the fact it's a PC case from the narrative, would you still expect something "practical" from it? Rather, what about something being wholly unique? There's a lot of questions to pose here, but maybe the best one is: why does everything have to be so mundane in the PC world?

A lot of custom DIY projects are garish and kitschy. This is much more interesting, can't we just enjoy that it's pushing the envelope of genuine design?

 

[Steve Nord_]

I really want build a case but this guy is another level

He's doing an enthusiastic and effective job at decorating using mostly that laser cutter and 1/4" plywood. He's going to have to go back and reblack or maybe take some Stewart Semple paints to task on the works when the char weathers away.
He's also managing to print very coarse gears in equal measure of PVA (guessing) which are super wrecking his momentum and designs. Love the sheer vertical wreckery with 120ish sun gears he was hitting when one harmonic drive would do, and thoroughgoing lack of shielding noise sources or setting flywheel canon.
You can do this stuff. Make a breathing jackfruit that can blow toasty air onto you or reject it into plenum toward working areas in a basement or sub-entry (or roof heat rejection vents.) If only to make a fashion statement (while keeping from blocking the AIO cooler dropping a stack of books atop your PC box.)
You can blow off this stuff. Do you have solar installed and an all 12V/48V distribution and (well-drywalled and fire suppressed) battery storage staged so AAA games don't have wacky grid pricing downsides? Do that?

 

[Steve Nord_]

It is artwork.

Not everything needs a "practical application".

It needs a gaffing adjoinment and some gobos or accent dimming light wash panels, because it's a lot of dark and no grace lighting; sort of begs a skylight, planter trough, and spill saucer on top the way it is? What is this, a self-dusting panel with extra steps? HODLing fine chipboard? The Impermanence of RRAM?

 

[Steve Nord_]

I'm a big fan of practical mods which none of this was, but it was really cool checking out his process. The amount of problems getting the big showpiece one working really speaks to why Cyberpower's design never came to market.

Cyberpower's stuff is good to go or proof through 3 years of user adorn-offs. They just need to lard up their events and awards for ~3yr longevity.
This guy though, maybe Javier Bardem or the guy's friend could come by done up as a certain assassin and have a scene with him where they say "If this was the result of a 6 hour dive into gear crafting, of what use was the Cartier gear tooth rule?" Maybe they improvise "rule" declarations next, or look over the CAD at hand. Maybe they reach into denim jackets and draw out wood sealing finish or oils or recycled print resin reels...or demo a Sumo bag rigged to stay cylindrical while they practice slouchy draws of rebuilt CO2 or semiconductor bar lasers for that plywood cutting thing.

 

[USAFRet]

Cyberpower's stuff is good to go or proof through 3 years of user adorn-offs. They just need to lard up their events and awards for ~3yr longevity.
This guy though, maybe Javier Bardem or the guy's friend could come by done up as a certain assassin and have a scene with him where they say "If this was the result of a 6 hour dive into gear crafting, of what use was the Cartier gear tooth rule?" Maybe they improvise "rule" declarations next, or look over the CAD at hand. Maybe they reach into denim jackets and draw out wood sealing finish or oils or recycled print resin reels...or demo a Sumo bag rigged to stay cylindrical while they practice slouchy draws of rebuilt CO2 or semiconductor bar lasers for that plywood cutting thing.

Buzzword bingo!!

 

[bit_user]

It is artwork.

Not everything needs a "practical application".

If you're going to have a grid of wooden pegs that move in ripples, independent anything to do with the operation of the PC, then why put it on a PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

 

[USAFRet]

If you're going to have a grid of wooden pegs that move in ripples, independent anything to do with the operation of the PC, then why put it on a PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

If you're going to have a grid of small LEDs, that cycle and pulse through various colors, independent of anything going on in the PC, then why put it in the PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

I'm not getting the hate for this thing.

 

[bit_user]

If you're going to have a grid of small LEDs, that cycle and pulse through various colors, independent of anything going on in the PC, then why put it in the PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

That's why I don't have any RGB in my PCs. I'm too lazy to do anything useful with them, and don't see value in them otherwise.

 

[USAFRet]

That's why I don't have any RGB in my PCs. I'm too lazy to do anything useful with them, and don't see value in them otherwise.

I don't like them either.
I would almost pay extra for non-RGB components.

A lot of people like it, though.

 

[UnforcedERROR]

If you're going to have a grid of wooden pegs that move in ripples, independent anything to do with the operation of the PC, then why put it on a PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

Is this a "why do anything at all" kind of moment?

Think about the utility of the PC for decades. Beige and black boxes, some horizontal and others vertical. Entirely utilitarian in function, and unattractive in most spaces. They serve all purpose, except of course to fit in as anything other than a computer. People complain about the sterile nature of modern and brutalist architecture for much the same reasons.

Sometimes people do things for fun. Personally I find the complaints of it trying to look like anything but a black box so bizarre I can hardly understand how you arrive at such a boring conclusion. I'm not trying to be combative, but it really bothers me how little people actually appreciate simple things like design and intent.

 

[bit_user]

Is this a "why do anything at all" kind of moment?

It's a "why build something functional into a PC case that doesn't enhance the function of the PC?" Not a "why art?"

As I think we've established, I'm not even a big fan of RGB, though many are. I guess we could lump this in the same category, and my guess is that if you like RGB you'll probably like this mod.

I've been contemplating functional mechanical enhancements to a PC case, and about the only thing I could come up with is having variable air duct geometry that adjusts depending on the machine's overall cooling needs or perhaps whether the cooling needs are greater for the CPU or GPU.

Think about the utility of the PC for decades. Beige and black boxes, some horizontal and others vertical. Entirely utilitarian in function, and unattractive in most spaces.

For me, PC case evolution basically finished with positive-pressure black aluminum cases with removable dust filters and bottom-mounted PSUs. I guess a few more interesting things have happened since optical drive bays started getting removed from them, but I still use optical drives and thus don't pay as much attention to such cases.

Some other innovations I like are Thin mini-ITX and mini-STX. It's too bad there aren't more such boards or cases. I really hate how most mini-PCs seem to have nonstandard parts. I wish there was a vibrant ecosystem of standard form-factor, NUC-sized boards and cases.

 

[thestryker]

Is this a "why do anything at all" kind of moment?

Think about the utility of the PC for decades. Beige and black boxes, some horizontal and others vertical. Entirely utilitarian in function, and unattractive in most spaces. They serve all purpose, except of course to fit in as anything other than a computer. People complain about the sterile nature of modern and brutalist architecture for much the same reasons.

Sometimes people do things for fun. Personally I find the complaints of it trying to look like anything but a black box so bizarre I can hardly understand how you arrive at such a boring conclusion. I'm not trying to be combative, but it really bothers me how little people actually appreciate simple things like design and intent.

I think you're conflating functionality complaints with complaints that it's not a black box. If he'd managed to do this in a way which at the very least preserved functionality while looking cool I'd have certainly had a different reaction to it. The reason why is simple: he made his case significantly worse so it would look cool. It's entirely possible to appreciate all the work and creativity that goes into something even if you think the end result is not good.

 

[UnforcedERROR]

It's a "why build something functional into a PC case that doesn't enhance the function of the PC?" Not a "why art?"

I know that's your stance. I thought that was implicit in my response. Things don't always have to be functional or practical. This is why I mentioned that engineering something visual and functional together is twice the effort of just reaching for one of those goals.

For me, PC case evolution basically finished with positive-pressure black aluminum cases with removable dust filters and bottom-mounted PSUs.

I understand this is how you view the whole thing. It's a very black-and-white inspection of value, but that's sort of my whole point. You only care about something if it's pushing function, and that's fine if you're only interested in increasing efficiency, but it lacks a human element. This gets back to my statement about modern/brutalist architecture. Function aplenty, but sterile and cold. You're allowed to like what you like, I just find it strange to be dismissive of something that's intended to be visual because it's, well, visual.

 

[UnforcedERROR]

I think you're conflating functionality complaints with complaints that it's not a black box.

I'm not though. You want something intended to look interesting to also be functional. That's a lot of engineering and sort of an unrealistic criticism. I think you actually misunderstood that I'm using "black box" to explain that the epitome of function for computers often strips away visual elements (this isn't always true, but peak function will always disregard visuals for the benefit of performance in the PC space).

If he'd managed to do this in a way which at the very least preserved functionality while looking cool I'd have certainly had a different reaction to it..

Functionality was never his intention, so evaluating it in that way is somewhat pointless. I understand the criticism, I just find it strange.

The reason why is simple: he made his case significantly worse so it would look cool. It's entirely possible to appreciate all the work and creativity that goes into something even if you think the end result is not good.

You don't appreciate it though, because it doesn't achieve your parameters for success. This is form over function, and the goal was never to be anything else. I understood the case had worse thermal and auditory capabilities, but since the goal of the project wasn't about improving those areas it's moot (I'm repeating myself here, I apologize).

 

[Colif]

its his case so he can do what he likes, but my first thought was... how does it breath. Yes, it looks great but cases aren't just there to look good. Regardless of how many are fish tanks now.
Not getting into the rgb discussion.

 

[thestryker]

You want something intended to look interesting to also be functional. That's a lot of engineering and sort of an unrealistic criticism.

Is it though? The case he's using already had most of the front blocked off and used openings along the edges for airflow. Had he made openings in the cover along the sides it would have maintained most of the airflow that was already existing. That's not "a lot of engineering" as you claim it to be it would have just required it being part of his plan.

You don't appreciate it though, because it doesn't achieve your parameters for success.

Right here you're just full of yourself and deciding that your parameters are all that matter. If you cannot grasp how it's possible to appreciate the process without liking the end result you should just keep it to yourself. It's extremely offensive for you to make idiotic declarations like you did here.

 

[husker]

If you're going to have a grid of wooden pegs that move in ripples, independent anything to do with the operation of the PC, then why put it on a PC case? You could instead just hang that front panel piece on the wall, where the art can be more easily seen and appreciated by everyone.

Because then he would have some nice art and an unattractive PC case. Instead, he has some nice art and no unattractive PC case.

 

[bit_user]

Because then he would have some nice art and an unattractive PC case. Instead, he has some nice art and no unattractive PC case.

You could still put a wooden front panel on it. Use the laser cutter to make a nice grille.