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Touch screen front panel from an android phone for RPM, temp., load monitoring

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Osy4C

New Member
Joined
May 7, 2017
Hi Everyone!

Let me introduce the front panel I created from an ancient 3.5" inch ZTE blade android phone:

 
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Hi!
HWiNFO or Open Hardware Monitor on the PC and OSysMon on the phone
 
You've inspired me! I've got 4 x 5.25" bays unused on my case and I'm thinking I could do something like this with a cheapo android tablet I never use.

Could you include a shot of the inside?
 
You've inspired me! I've got 4 x 5.25" bays unused on my case and I'm thinking I could do something like this with a cheapo android tablet I never use.

Could you include a shot of the inside?

+1 Ive got a drawer wtih old android phones that I could repurpose for this project. More info about how you accomplished this would be an interesting read.
 
Hi!

Fortunately I broke that thin ugly DVD cover so I created a new frame. :D

This time I cut the metal front panel and I used an another old phone a Zte blade.
I don't have any precise cutting tool and i have to work on my metal cutting skills too, but this frame is far better than the old one.

At the 4 corners I used thin wires to hold the phone tight.
I used a black permanent marker for the paint job. Make sure to make space for the charger cable and it needs to be connected to the motherboard. Make sure to make the USB always powered in the BIOS.

A made a few pictures I hope it helps.



zteFrontPanel_01.jpg zteFrontPanel_02.jpg zteFrontPanel_03.jpg zteFrontPanel_04.jpg zteFrontPanel_05.jpg zteFrontPanel_06.jpg zteFrontPanel_07.jpg old-new.jpg inside.jpg
 
Im not 100% sure but I think you can take the battery out and it will still operate as long as the pc is powered on.

Did you cut the male usb end from the power cord and splice in a motherboard compatible header (so you can plug directly to the motherboard usb headers) or do you have internal usb port on your board? Its a little different from what I originally thought but still quite nice :)
 
Im not 100% sure but I think you can take the battery out and it will still operate as long as the pc is powered on.

Did you cut the male usb end from the power cord and splice in a motherboard compatible header (so you can plug directly to the motherboard usb headers) or do you have internal usb port on your board? Its a little different from what I originally thought but still quite nice :)

No, I just plug the male USB into one of the external usb ports of the motherboard, (the cable goes through the case). :)
 
The android connects to the PC over Wifi. The Open Hardware Monitor and the HWiNFO (with an addon) has a web server to provide sensor data.
 
You got me researching different software and I'm wondering if you came across Roccat Power Grid? It's a free, simple, and extendable platform for using a table/phone as a monitoring screen. There are several functions like pressing on a drive opens it on your PC and even individual app volume control. Oddly enough, no app seems to do this over USB (yet), all require a pc server and the device to connect over wifi.

The mount will have to be custom (and probably starting my own project log). Not a single tablet mount for a pc's drive bay area exists, everything is for cars/walls/swivel arms.

Damn you and this neat thing you've done!
 
You got me researching different software and I'm wondering if you came across Roccat Power Grid? It's a free, simple, and extendable platform for using a table/phone as a monitoring screen. There are several functions like pressing on a drive opens it on your PC and even individual app volume control. Oddly enough, no app seems to do this over USB (yet), all require a pc server and the device to connect over wifi.

The mount will have to be custom (and probably starting my own project log). Not a single tablet mount for a pc's drive bay area exists, everything is for cars/walls/swivel arms.

Damn you and this neat thing you've done!


Yes, I saw the ROCCAT app. I've done my own research (when my good old G15 keyboard died), and I found nothing similar to what wanted, so I started to create my own. :)
A server application will always be required, you have to have some code running on the PC to provide the data. I'm going to check if any USB interface or add on exist in HWiNO or in Open Hardware Monitor.

Good luck with the mounting! :)
 
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