Modular Server Room: Mock-Up Proof of Concept

Hey Reader! I'm Jack from Canada, and I am pleased to present my project in collaboration with Oliver Shory's gantry. It's a proof of concept for constructing a modular server room idea I had randomly while eating. It works like a claw machine in how a gantry and winch controlled by two joysticks are used to pick up individual server racks for inspection. In addition, a hydraulic cylinder, which I couldn't get moving in time, controls what is equivalent to the central platform for humans to occupy and inspect the servers. This project was done in collaboration with Oliver Shorey's Aluminum Extrusion 3D Printed Gantry Instructables. He gave me his gantry, which I modified to adapt to my claw-machine-esque modular server room.

Required Tools:

1. 1x Ryobi Cordless Drill | Link
2. 1x Drill Bit & Driver Bit Kit | Link
3. 4x 90 Degree Corner Clamps | Link
4. Cordless Jigsaw | Link
5. Laser Cutting Machine | Link

For Gantry:

1. 5 segments of 500mm long 20x20mm aluminum extrusion
2. Link here
3. 2050mm of timing belt
4. Link here
5. 9 POM Wheels
6. Link here
7. Arduino UNO
8. Link here
9. 4 28BYJ-48 5V stepper motors
10. Link here
11. 4 ULN 2003 Motor drivers
12. Link here
13. 25 Male to Female cables
14. Link here
15. 4 internal corner brackets
16. Including 2 pins for each
17. Link here
18. 9 M5xmmx30mm screws
19. Link here
20. 9 M5 nuts
21. Link here
22. 12 M4x20mm screws
23. Link here
24. 10 M4 nuts
25. Link here
26. 6 M4 threaded inserts
27. Link here
28. 18 spacers
29. Link here
30. 3 GT2 Timing Belt Pulleys.
31. 20 Teeth 8mm Bore Aluminum Synchronous Wheel
32. Link here

For Gantry Mods:

1. Arduino Uno | Link
2. 3.5mm Polyester Rope | Link
3. 25 Male to Female cables | Link
4. Motor Driver Board | Link
5. Joystick | Link
6. Breadboard | Link
7. 3D Printed Winch | See Instructions
8. 3D Printed Static Detacher | See Instructions
9. 3D Printed Magnetic Attacher | See Instructions
10. 3D Printed Belt Loopers | See Instructions

For Open-top Box:

1x 3/4 in. x 4 ft. x 8 ft MDF Board | Link

25x No. 8 2&1/2in Flat Head Wood Screws | Link

2x #2 Wood Strips / 1x2-8in Plywood | Link

1x LePage Quick Dry Wood Glue Bottle | Link

Please refer to Oliver Shory's instructions for assembling the gantry.

See his project here.

Drill and then screw down the Motor Driver Board, Arduino Uno, and Joystick. Remove the protective sticker and attach the breadboard's positive-negative board.

Use this diagram to integrate your joystick, Z-axis motor, and motor driver board into your Arduino Uno. The positive/negative power for the motor driver board's jumper cables should go onto the same positive/negative breadboard that Oli's motor driver power cables were on. The positive/negative wires from the external power supply also go on this positive/negative breadboard. Note: Wire diagram is compressed, please click on it for the full picture.

Replace Oli's Belt Loopers with a compacted version—3D print 4 of the attached .3mf file. Remove connecting pieces from Oli's belt loopers and attach them to the compacted ones. Attach the completed loopers to the top of the aluminum extrusions.

3D print the attached file. Remove Oli's screws and nuts and attach the static detacher with those same screws and nuts.

3D print the attached file. After removing all the support material, attach the winch to the Z-axis motor. Then, wrap the 3.5mm diameter rope through the magnetic attacher's handle. Thread the attacher through the static detacher's hole and the rope around the winch. See images for reference if instructions are unclear.`

Take the MDF board and cut two pieces of 600mmx200mm and two pieces of 560mmx200mm. Tape one 600x200 board to a 560x200 board and repeat for the other two.

Cut a 600mmx560mm sheet from the MDF board. Carefully cut a 60mm diameter circle in the center of this board.

Fold the two MDF 600x200 and 560x200 into a 90 degree angle with the 600x200 facing outwards. Wrap the folded boards around the base from step 7. Repeat this for the other boards. Once fully encased, tape the two half pieces together.

Take your #2 Wood Strip / 1x2-8in Plywood and saw it in half. Place both ends at the edge between the base and walls. Drill and then drive 2 #8 wood screws into the 50mm from the top and bottom for each of these halves.

Saw your other #2 Wood Strip / 1x2-8in plywood into four pieces. Place each piece at the bottom left/right corners. Drill and drive a #8 wood screw into the box walls for each piece. Then drill and drive #8 wood screws into the wood strips used in step 9, making sure that the screw ends up into the pieces used in this step. See pictures for reference.

Take your LePage wood glue and spread a glue line to each edge of the box. Cover the edge with tape afterward. See pictures for reference of the process.

Take your Ryobi cordless drill and attach a drill piece matching the thickness of the #8 wood screws. Drill a hole through the aluminum extrusion and wood board underneath. Then drive a #8 wood screw through the recently created hole. Repeat 5 times around the gantry until the gantry is firmly mounted to the wood boards.

To mount the gantry to the open-top box, first, prop up the gantry with two rolls of tape. Then, sketch a straight line 17cm above the bottom of the box. Draw a dot 10cm from the left of the box and then another 5cm after that. Then, draw a dot 10cm from the right of the box and then another 5cm after that. Next, drill and drive #8 wood screws into each dot. Repeat for the other side.