Kangaroo mini PC case with Cooling fan mount

[cpapplefamily]

In the spirit of FRC share everything this past summer our team was testing Vision control and used a Kangaroo Mini PC as a co-processor. I didn't like how hot it ran so we 3d Printed a case with a cooling fan mount and tabs to Zip tie it down. We ended up cutting out the vertical dividers on the HDMI-USB side. Maybe it could come in useful for your team

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1860093

[Foster]

Looks very cool. Which Kangaroo Mini PC model is this for?

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by Foster

Looks very cool. Which Kangaroo Mini PC model is this for?

That would not fit the Kangaroo Mobile Pro dock.
It would fit the original and the Kangaroo Plus.

Also:

According to Kangaroo one can swap the Plus CPU module, which has more RAM and eMMC storage, with the Mobile Pro dock CPU to get all the features in one package.

[cpapplefamily]

We are using this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-001-_-Product

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by cpapplefamily

We are this...

That is the Kangaroo plus.
4GB of RAM and 64GB of eMMC.

Did not come with Windows 10 license I suspect.
The original Kangaroo came with a Windows 10 license preinstalled OEM.

The original Kangaroo and the Plus have the same physical dimensions.

[cpapplefamily]

Our Kangaroo had Windows 10 installed. The more I learn about the kangaroo they seem more shady.

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by cpapplefamily

Our Kangaroo had Windows 10 installed. The more I learn about the kangaroo they seem more shady.

Other than the fact that I own 2 of the original Kangaroo.
One of the Kangaroo Plus.
One of the Kangaroo Mobile Pro.

I know that all of them can have thermal management issues sitting at 75F degrees which is obviously slightly above room temperature.

It's easy to see when you have Linux on them, Ubuntu in particular will display a warning that the processor is being throttled for thermal reasons.
I think the '3D printed fan tray'? idea presented here is a good idea.

My only reason to buy this product is FRC.
With the integral battery and quad core processor it makes a neat little co-processor where I don't have to worry about wiring up a secondary regulator or brown outs.
It is also 64bit versus the ODroid 32bit (not that we really need the 64bits).

That said - the licensing of Windows 10 here is obviously a little off.
All the of the pre-release information said no Windows 10 on the Plus and the higher cost for the hardware.
Maybe they found a way to squeeze it in budget for a while (if they didn't it is between them and Microsoft)?

All of that said - I have had great luck installing Ubuntu 16.04LTS with UEFI on Kangaroo.
I've had good luck imaging the Kangaroo with the Paragon Software - Drive Copy 15 Professional.
So I am satisfied with it adequately enough to use it as a co-processor in FRC.
If it were entirely up to me Windows 10 would be irrelevant for this embedded use - however I'll leave that to my students to decide.

[cpapplefamily]

I'm not using it on the robot but I did buy a 5vdc fan. Thought maybe I could tap into the micro USB port for power. We are using a 12v DC fan we recycled from another device and powereducation off the robot.

[techhelpbb]

Originally Posted by cpapplefamily

I'm not using it on the robot but I did buy a 5vdc fan. Thought maybe I could tap into the micro USB port for power. We are using a 12v DC fan we recycled from another device and powereducation off the robot.

Should be able to get 500mA at 5V off of any standard USB port on the Kangaroo, no need to use the microUSB charge port.
More than enough for a small (30mm square) fan.

ON A SEPARATE NOTE:

So I am wondering if the addition of the fan motor powered by the USB port on the Kangaroo is legal in FRC.

The fan is a motor, you fabricated the mount it wasn't part of the Kangaroo. An internal laptop fan in a COTS device wouldn't be an issue and we've taken that through quite a few inspections.

I wonder if you might be forced to power the fan from the RoboRio control side to cool the Kangaroo. Such that it only runs when the robot is enabled or only when the robot is powered on. Cause you could leave the co-processor on between matches. I haven't seen anyone been asked to turn a co-processor off as long as it was legal to start with (IE it could not control a motor like this case - in this case powering the fan from the Kangaroo might be a FRC illegal thing to do).

ANSWERING MY OWN QUESTION:
https://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/s...ht=cooling+fan

So I think the master breaker requirement and R52 in 2016 put you in a situation where the master breaker must be able to turn off the Kangaroo cooling fan. In that situation that's not too bad. You really care the Kangaroo doesn't CPU throttle when you are depending on it.

[cpapplefamily]

The USB powered fan Idea was more of a Bench Top Option but your points of on Robot are valid. We are currently powering the fan from the VRM along with a fan for an older Victor speed controller.