CASE STUDY: IP-66 enclosure

February 2018
clock
3 min
Industrial

Custom dust- and moisture-resistance IP66 enclosure for automotive application, accommodating a custom PCB. EnCata delivered the industrial design, DFM and manufactured in-house a steel mould along with the first batch and product assembly.

Background

A fast-growing car-sharing startup company contacted EnCata to design a special enclosure for its custom PCB electronics, which would be able to sustain vibrations and sharp temperature hike within -40 …+85 deg. C. The device should be mounted inside a car engine compartment. Since the customer had already developed the PCB we qualified the customer’s technology readiness level as TRL-5. The customer requested to have a distinctive industrial design to portray his advanced hardware + software technology.

Work

Among the offered variants of the industrial design, the customer adhered to futuristic touch with strong geometrical features and easy access for quick battery interchange. The design had also adopted IP66 protection (dust, waterjets) and vandal resistance. The case also incorporated 48 Pin FCI Automotive Waterproof ECU interface, as well as mini-USB and U.FL/IPX to RP-SMA interfaces.

Such combination proved to be challenging for DFM as EnCata needed to circumvent issues with compartment sealing at a small curvature radius.

To the highest degree, all these features were incorporated in 3D printed prototypes and a batch of cases was produced with home-made steel moulds and on our semi-automatic plastic injection moulding machine. The batch and the moulds were delivered to the customer

Results

Overall, the customer received a full service from EnCata, comprized:

  • Industrial design
  • CAD model and full documentation (drawings)
  • 3D-printed prototypes
  • Design-for-manufacturability
  • Moulds design and manufacturing
  • First product batch with our own injection moulder

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

Learn more from our insigths

Product Development

Business in the Pandemic: Adapt or Collapse

EnCata found a possible way out of the problems caused by COVID-19. The COVID pandemic has dealt a serious blow to many industries from the outset, only growing in scale and impact.

Product Development

Employing Design Thinking for New Product Development

Creating a useful product isn’t enough—it needs to be user-friendly and appealing. Discover how design thinking elevates your product development process!

Hardware
Robotics
Industrial
Startup

Essential Sensor Types: Selecting the Best Fit for Your Device. P.2

New to product development? Explore sensors types and learn how to select the right ones to bring your product concept to life with this guide.

Have a project to do?

Fill out the form and a member from our sales team will get back to you

Thank you!
Your request has been submitted! We shall contact you shortly

Oops! Something went wrong... Try to reload this page and resubmit

FAQ

At EnCata, what kinds of contracts do you use? Is it a fixed-term or an agile contract?
Can you provide me with a certification of competence?
What level of training do your specialists have?
Is it possible for us to cooperate with EnCata’s team?
Is it possible to discuss the project with your technical team?
Can EnCata facilitate mass production?
Do you sign NDAs?
Patent or Develop first?
Does EnCata outsource electronics services?
Do you write program code, either software or firmware?
Are there hardware engineers in your team?
What should I do now that I've approached you with my project idea?
Can EnCata help me with fundraising?