Tag Archives: motorized models

Custom Electronics for Models

KiwiMill has the ability, in house, to add motorized and electronics features to your models. A few weeks ago, we delivered a model to a customer that required a lot of power and numerous interactive features all controllable by buttons on a panel in a museum.

Custom Electronics Box & Power Supply

Adding electronics to models comes with its own set of unique challenges. Our customers demand their models work reliably and want to make sure the power supply is UL listed to ensure it is safe to use in their displays.

Some of the issues we run into in our models:

  1. Multiple Voltage Requirements – models often use off-the-shelf electronics (sound makers, motors, lights, etc.) that require multiple voltages on a single model.
  2. High Current Requirements – While LEDs use little current individually, today’s modern superbright LEDs can use upwards of a watt of energy each and, when you string 50 or 100 of them together, they use more current than a typical power supply can provide. Motors can also use a lot of current and require a robust power supply.
  3. Were Do We Mount All These Things – Break-Out-Boards, Controllers, SSRs, power supplies, etc… where do we mount all these things so the parts won’t get jostled and the customer won’t get shocked?

Our solution is a custom ATX power supply in a custom made sheet metal box. An ATX power supply provides multiple voltages (3.3V, 5V and 12V) which is the power requirements for almost everything we build. Not only do they put out multiple voltages, an ATX power supply puts out A LOT of current. We can get a 1,500 watt power supply just in case we need to light an entire city all at once! On top of that, the ATX power supplies we buy are UL listed to ensure they operate safely. A good ATX power supply is also built to last a long time and includes a fan that will keep the electronics in the box cool.

Below are some pictures of our CAD design for this custom ATX power supply and electronics box, and pictures of the finished product. There’s also a picture of a much larger box that has hundreds of wire connections coming into it.

ATX Power Supply Box Design Drawing
Design Drawing
ATX Power Supply for a Scale Model
Before Connections
Custom Scale Model ATX Power Supply
After Connections
Custom ATX Power Supply Box
Complete with Cover
Custom ATX Power Supply Box
Larger Custom Electronics Box

Fiber Optic Light Source

This one was a little easier.

The problem: anything that holds a light-bulb is designed to allow light to escape as much as possible. A light is designed to provide humans with light, after all. We need to fully contain the light and direct it toward a bundle of fiber-optics.

The solution: A custom designed fiber-optics light source. This is nothing more than a sheet metal box with a bracket to hold a standard light socket. The cover contains the light in the box. We used a 60W LED spotlight to direct as much of the light into the fiber bundle as possible.

Custom Fiber Optics Light Source Drawing
Fiber Optics Light Source Drawing
Custom Fiber Optics Light Source
Fiber Optics Light Source