2024: Desk Odyssey - TMA4 'MINILITH'

Design

I must admit, I’m an absolute fan of 2001: A Space Odyssey, both the novel by Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick’s cinematic masterpiece. It’s arguably the best first-contact story ever written, chronicling Dave Bowman’s journey aboard the spaceship Discovery One to explore the enigmatic Monolith—a manifestation of immense extraterrestrial intelligence.

When I first saw the original printable Framework case, its proportions immediately stood out. They closely resembled the divine 1:4:9 proportions of the Monoliths in 2001: A Space Odyssey. These mysterious structures, symbolic of advanced computation and universal knowledge, were left behind in our solar system by an ancient extraterrestrial civilization.

Inspired, I created a case that mirrors the Monolith’s aesthetics, giving you a personal "TMA 4"—a nod to the Tycho Magnetic Anomalies from 2001. This case might even represent the Minilith: the smaller Monolith found aboard Discovery One. Now, it can reside on your desk, possibly “full of stars,” as Dave Bowman described when he first entered TMA 3.

Construction

The Minilith design consists of three main components: a back panel, a front panel, and a surrounding frame.

• Ventilation: The frame is slightly offset from the front and back panels to allow airflow, with the bottom open for the fan to exhaust hot air.
• Mounting: All screw and mounting points for the Framework mainboard, soundcard, and other components are on the back panel.
• Stand: A custom stand is included, designed to elevate the case, giving it the appearance of hovering—much like the original Monolith at Jupiter's Lagrange point in the story.

Want a more dramatic setup? The panels have a drill point at the center of gravity (COG) for suspending the Minilith from a string or wire. This creates your own makeshift Lagrange point (in case your desk isn’t quite at one, which is unlikely).

The case uses the same proven clip system as the original Framework design for securely connecting the front and back panels.

Slicing & Printing

Front and Back Panels:

• Print flat on the bed with no supports required.

Frame:

• Prints flat as well and includes sub-parts for plugs and interfacing openings.
• You can customize by setting the required openings as negative volumes or removing them entirely.
• Optional fuzzy skin texture is applied to match the textured print bed on the front and back panels, with modifiers excluding plug holes from the texture. If you prefer smooth surfaces, simply disable fuzzy skin in the settings.

Stand:

• Prints upright with “2024: A Desk Odyssey - TMA 4 ‘Minilith’” embossed on the surface.
• Two versions are available:
  1. Fuzzy skin on the stand, smooth text.
  2. Smooth stand, fuzzy-textured lettering.
• If you don’t want the text, unify the settings for the stand and text to erase it.

All settings, including fuzzy skin, modifiers, supports, and seams, are preset in the provided 3MF files for convenience.

Assembly

1. Mount the mainboard onto the back panel.
2. Insert the eight clips into the corresponding slots on the back panel.
3. Slide on the stand (if using one).
4. Attach the frame.
5. Snap on the front panel to complete the assembly.

And there you have it—your very own TMA 4 on your desk!

Happy printing and frameworking!