EYE ON NPI - Bud Industries’ AIO Series Enclosure with Cover Window

Adafruit Industries

This week's EYE ON NPI is from our best buds at Bud Industries - the Bud AIO Series Enclosure with Cover Window (https://www.digikey.com/en/product-highlight/b/bud-industries/aio-series-enclosure) is a very nice case that is a step above most durable wall-mounted enclosures. In particular, what is really nice about this design is there are two 'doors' - one is the main enclosure latching door that lets you stuff a whole bunch of electronics inside. There's also a secondary clear panel door on the front, which is also latching (although not with metal hasps). Both are gasketed for weatherproof-ness. Obviously, the front door is designed for showing TFTs, LEDs, gauges or other indicators with a protected cover. However, we like the extra step of being able to open the cover to push buttons, tweak knobs or maybe interact with a touch screen without opening up the whole box which could expose the electronic design to dust or dampness. Bud's great with their documentation (https://www.budind.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/hbaio11111.pdf) - and the two AIO series enclosures come with datasheets that have nice diagrams of all internal and external dimensions in inches and millimeters. There's lots of mounting holes/bosses on the inside for attaching a PCB or substrate - the holes are threaded and the enclosure comes with plenty of mounting screws. The enclosure is made of ABS plastic, which makes it very easy to drill and cut. (https://www.google.com/search?channel=nus5&client=firefox-b-1-d&q=abs+plastic+machining) There's a removable plate that sits between the inner and outer section, which means it's easy to remove for machining. If you need a lot of custom panels, it may also be possible to just cut out plastic/metal/wood on a router with the drill holes and slots you need. There's also internal panels you can purchase that fit inside the case with lots of holes for quick mounting (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/bud-industries/PTX-10140/13907429) Another nice detail we noticed in our exploration is the gasket material is extruded and molded to the enclosure, rather than a simple o-ring or rubber bead. That's what gives it the nice IP66 rating (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IP_Code) for dust-proof and waterjet-proofness. That said, because it's non-stabilized ABS, it isn't well suited for any long-term outdoor mounting as it can degrade under sunlight. It could be used outdoors as long as it isn't exposed to sunlight too much, but it's really designed for durable indoor use. IP66-rated enclosures are dust-tight and provide a strong level of indoor-outdoor protection. Boxes that qualify for this rating will prevent ingress of water directed at high pressure. Typically IP66 waterproof enclosures are used in washdown and outdoor applications, such as factories, rooftops, solar installations, and agricultural settings. They give maximum protection against pressure-washing and weather short of water immersion. https://www.budind.com/nema-ip-rated-boxes-ip-66 There's two versions of this enclosure with different depths: the Bud AIO-11111 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/bud-industries/AIO-11111/13907415) and the Bud AIO-11112 (https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/bud-industries/AIO-11112/13907416), the '11111 is 9.5" deep, the '11112 is 7.7" deep. Both are in stock right now for immediate shipment from Digi-Key! (https://www.digikey.com/short/4zznn9h3) Order today and you can have a cozy enclosure for your product or project by tomorrow morning. See on Digi-Key at https://www.digikey.com/short/4zznn9h3