I’m sure there’s no shortage of KBPM’s modded into various project boxes, but I wanted to show off my take on it. My approach was simple. I wanted to protect the KBPM and lessen the stress associated with connecting the RJ45 and mini-USB cable.
I cut the RJ45 hole with a combination of drill bits, coping saw and fine metal files to refine the fit. I cut a small cord cutout at the top of the box. I made it close enough to the cover such that it puts a small amount of pressure on the cable so that tension on the cable won’t pull on the KBPM itself. Finally, I used the existing through-holes in the board to fasten two small screws through the bottom of the project box and into the holes. The screws are basically friction-fitted into the plastic and a little bit smaller than the holes in the board. Just enough to secure the board to the bottom of the box and hold the RJ45 jack tight to the side.
I like that the box is clear and can show off my KBPM and I have no problem seeing the status lights. I want to add a Kegbot sticker to the cover, but I need to find one small enough as to not block the view, yet show off the branding. The ones that came with my Kegbot are the logo and the wording. Although I might just cut out the Kegbot logo and use that.
Also, I’m tired of using my docking station for my Asus Transformer TF101 tablet. I have the dock torn apart and if I strip it to essential components only (i.e. usb port, 40-pin dock connector, power cord, ribbon cables), I might be able to mod it all into the project box as well. That’s the plan I’m currently toying with anyways. More pictures to come if that idea takes off.
Update: See finished tablet mount/enclosure below. 12/16/2014
Not to hijack my own thread, but I did a little proof of concept testing to see what I would need out of the TF101 docking station to enable usb host mode while charging the tablet. Turns out, I needed surprisingly little. All that’s pictured is the charging board and the dock connector from the keyboard. The Asus Transformer TF101 is a great tablet and, while this isn’t an ideal solution, its cost effective for me because I can pick up some spare parts on Ebay to make this work for me.
This is definitely going to mature into a project. More to follow in this thread or another one.
Finally got around to completing a tablet enclosure and a way to hide all the guts of my TF101 charging board and the KBPM project box that I starting this thread for.
I had some scrap 1/2" plywood laying around and used that for the box. Used some scrap 2x4s to make the French cleat system for attaching it to the wall which makes it easy to remove.
Added some scrap moulding and black paint because it just seemed to be the best color for the job. The tap handles are secured from below with carriage bolts.
The tablet is held in place with a couple plastic fasteners at the top corners that swing out of the way to remove the tablet if I so choose. The KBPM is proudly displayed to the right of the tablet inside the aforementioned project box. There’s an additional project box velcro’ed inside the shelf box which holds the charging board that I removed from the TF101 keyboard docking station so that I could get tablet charging while maintaining OTG capability.
The tablet utilizes the 40 pin dock connector that I also removed from the TF101 keyboard docking station and built it into the tablet pocket within the shelf box.
