Actually this thing would be a lot sexier if it were in fact complying with Eurorack standards, imho. There's no better environment to be dropping an alternative computing platform than directly into the rack alongside the rest of the interesting modules of the 21st century ..
I did consider Euro Rack, 19" racks, MiniATX and other case standards.
But with any of these options, i wouldnt be able to keep the price low. The case including all parts and assembly cost is roughly at 20€ per device.
It's an off-the-shelf part, with only lasercutted parts in two materials, and a single custom component which is yet to be determined what's the cheapest manufacturing option.
I wanted to keep the price low and any of the options above would increase the price by at least 40€, which is a subatantial part of the components
I can buy a small Eurorack module box for 25eu, including power supply and handles.
So .. I dunno .. just seems like with a bit of extra design work, Ashet could become Eurorack compatible at least, for those of us who want to hack it into that environment.
But anyway, I see you are quite busy with other issues, I'll pipe down about it.
It looks like it could be future-compatible with a possible Euro Rack refit? Nothing cooler than DIYing a DSP for your DIY modsynth!
Heightwise, it fits: 100mm vs ER's ~128mm; trickier with depth - 180mm vs "deep" ER modules ~100mm. One option would be a rack with no back panel. Power in ER is already being distributed via a ribbon cable so this shouldn't impact the ability to install standard modules. Electrically - 12V, perfect match.
What is the width of each module? Assuming (250mm-case)/8 ~= 30-32mm?
Module spec should be around 85x28x100 mm size, so we'd have a deep module with around 15mm of "front extrusion" to fit the modules.
It's definitly possible to re-layout the backplane into a different mechanical design, and reduce the number of slots
Final specs will be shared soon, i have to do another revision of the hardware design as i figured mechanical properties like that the "stickyness" of PCIe slots is good enough so you dont actually need mechanical screws to fasten the modules