This is post 2 in the series (next: Case Selection, previous: Requirements).
In my previous post, I split all my desires into two categories: requirements and features; requirements being something mandatory while features being something that is nice to have. In reality, the line between them isn't really as clear so you can view this just as an addition to the first post.
When it comes to features, the main externally visible functionality of my consolidated power supply box will be the ability to reset devices from the front as I currently have with ResetBox.
While this is a requirement, the exact button count is a bit more flexible since the primary function of them is to provide a quick reset of the Internet for my family when I'm not around. Considering that, the minimum would be something like this:
- Button 1: Arris SURFboard Modem
- Button 2: Mikrotik hAP ac, Mikrotik Audience, and Mikrotik hAP ax3
However, while I have other means of resetting devices, I also like buttons so my desired setup might be something like this:
- Button 1: Arris SURFboard Modem
- Button 2: Mikrotik hAP ac, Mikrotik Audience, and Mikrotik hAP ax3
- Button 3: Dell OptiPlex 3050 Micro
- Button 4: Intel NUC
Let's add one more button to account for possible future needs, and this brings us up to a total of 5. Please note there is no requirement that the button count matches the physical layout (i.e., one button could reset two different outputs), but I like to have it setup like that nonetheless. It just simplifies configuration immensely if I keep that link.
Functionality of buttons is to remain the same as it is for ResetBox; i.e., they should handle brief touches without any action, and reset should be "hidden" behind a longer press. Also, if one keps pressing button for a long duration (e.g., more than 10 seconds), the reset should be cancelled.
I might as well try to include some monitoring for both voltage and current. This is easy enough to implement, and it would be a shame to miss such opportunity. As not to go overboard, just monitoring output lines will be sufficient since I can already see that monitoring both input and output would take a lot of board space.
In order to display that data, I would definitely like to go with OLED, albeit I can already see mounting it on the front will be a challenge no matter which case I select. Thus, I might not bother making it user-visible, but I would still like to have it on board so my development and troubleshooting can benefit from it. I trust 128x32 will do.
For real-time monitoring, I would like to have either UART, RS-232, RS-485, or CAN-bus output. Since each of those requires different components, I would need to make that decision eventually but not necessarily now. I am tentatively leaning toward CAN-bus due to its resilience; but let's hold the final decision for now.
Lastly, having an idea of the temperature might be beneficial. While precision is not really important, there should be a sensor somewhere on the board that will give us a ballpark figure of how hot we're running.
That's all I really want from this project. Now, onto figuring out the details.