Reviving an old topic as my curiosity was piqued by some other discussions where I think thermal management would be important (see ramblings here)
I see two constraints that oppose or at least conflate each other:
- Getting heat outside of the enclosure
- Sealing the enclosure from the elements
A possible solution is to put a ‘double sided’ passive heat exchanger what has fins both on the inside and the outside of the enclosure. This allows the enclosure to stay (relatively) hermetically sealed and allows better heat transfer to the outside. I did a brief google search to find an example, but am falling short so far. Adding a circulating fan inside the enclosure could help with getting heat from the electronics’ heat sinks to the heat exchanger. You see this design pattern in telephone and cable communications equipment, as well as some power substations.
A more expensive idea (likely requiring a massive design change) would be to use a metal mounting system for the cards that touch the grounding pads to draw heat away from the boards. This metal mounting system would also connect directly to a heat exchanger with external heat sinks. This is a design pattern that exists in avionics units, but again, would likely be prohibitively expensive for Farmbot. I bring that solution up only to spark discussions.