REEF Modular Case & Smart-Camera Kit for Synaptics Coralboard SL

One base, three swappable lids: protective case, open dev bay or tilting AI camera. All ports usable, tripod/wall/VESA/DIN mounts, no supports.

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Make it a case, a dev rig or an AI camera. Swap the lid, keep the board.

The Coralboard SL is made for on-device AI: camera in, Gemma and YOLO on the Coral NPU, no cloud. A bare dev board on a desk is fragile, though, and hard to put where the action is. REEF is a modular enclosure that grows with your project, like a reef. One printed base carries the board, and the lid (4 screws) decides what the device becomes:

- Shell lid: closed, protective everyday case. A coral-polyp vent field sits right above the SoM.

- Dev lid: for prototyping. Open bay over the mikroBUS / Click sockets and the CSI connector, a window over the 20-pin GPIO for Dupont jumpers, engraved labels.

- Cam lid: a self-contained edge-AI camera. A tilting camera head holds a standard OV5647 module (Raspberry-Pi-style 25 × 24 mm board), and its ribbon drops straight down to the CSI connector. Put the object-detection or image-classification demos on a desk, a tripod, a wall or a monitor.

Built on the official CAD

REEF was modelled in Fusion around the official Synaptics Coralboard SL STEP from the Coral Printables account. Every part was checked for interference against every component of that model, and the camera head was checked over its whole tilt range.

Every connector stays usable with the lid closed

- Front I/O panel: USB-C (5 V power plus data / USB-NCM networking), USB-A, Qwiic

- RESET and USER buttons: printed flexure buttons, labelled; nothing loose

- 3 status LEDs: light-pipe channels (push in 10 mm pieces of clear 1.75 mm filament, or leave them open)

- microSD: side slot with a finger scoop

- Battery (JST-PH): open corner port, so a 3.7 V LiPo can be plugged in with the lid on

- I2S2 (JST-SH 7-pin): side window

- DSI display: ribbon slot through the base (the connector is on the underside of the board)

- M.2 Wi-Fi / BT: two pre-marked drill-outs (6.5 mm) for RP-SMA antenna bulkheads

- GPIO and mikroBUS: through the Dev or Cam lid

 Passive cooling

Intake polyps under the SoM and exhaust polyps above it set up a chimney airflow through the case.

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Mount it anywhere

- Captive 1/4"-20 nut in the base: tripods, GorillaPods, magic arms, monitor-top webcam clips

- 2 keyholes for wall screws. The case hangs with the I/O panel facing down so the cables drop neatly ("I/O DOWN" is engraved underneath).

- VESA 75 / 100 plate (optional): stand-offs leave room for the thumbscrew and for cables; zip-tie slots

- TS35 DIN-rail clip (optional): spring latch with a screwdriver release, for edge AI in a control cabinet

- Printed 1/4"-20 thumbscrew (optional, modelled thread): attaches the VESA plate or the DIN clip

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Files

The STLs come oriented for printing. Also included: STEP assembly with the Coralboard. The whole kit fits on a single 250 × 220 mm bed (CORE One / MK4).

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Print settings

- Material: PLA or PETG (PETG for the DIN clip and for a camera that sits in the sun)

- Nozzle / layer: 0.4 mm / 0.2 mm (0.12–0.15 mm for the thumbscrew thread)

- Walls: 3 perimeters (4 for the DIN clip). Infill: 15–20 % gyroid.

- Supports: none. Every part has a flat face on the bed. The counterbores and nut traps have sacrificial bridging layers, so the holes stay clean without supports.

- Orientation: as supplied. Lids print upside down (top on the bed), the base floor-down, the camera cradle front-face-down, the VESA plate and DIN clip top-face-down.

- Colour tip: coral lid with a deep-blue base, like the renders. A white or clear lid makes the LED light pipes glow.

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Hardware

Case (every version)

- 4 × M3 × 16 mm socket-head screws (ISO 4762 / DIN 912)

- 4 × M3 hex nuts

- optional: 4 × 10 mm self-adhesive rubber bumpers (recessed under the base)

Tripod / VESA / DIN

- 1 × 1/4"-20 UNC hex nut (7/16" across flats), pressed into the base (a drop of CA glue keeps it in)

- VESA: 4 × M4 × 16 mm screws for the monitor, plus a 1/4"-20 × 3/8" screw or the printed thumbscrew

Cam lid

- 4 × M3 × 10 mm screws: 2 fix the mast to the lid and 2 form the tilt axis (they self-tap into the cradle; tighten them to set the tilt friction)

- 4 × M2 × 5 mm self-tapping screws for the camera board

- 1 × OV5647 camera module on the Raspberry-Pi 25 × 24 mm footprint, mounting holes 21 × 12.5 mm (for example the Arducam module that comes with the Coralboard kit)

- 1 × 22-pin to 15-pin camera ribbon (fold any excess under the lid)

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Optional

- clear 1.75 mm filament (light pipes)

- 2 × RP-SMA bulkhead antennas for the M.2 Wi-Fi module (drill the marks to 6.5 mm)

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Assembly (about 5 minutes)

1. Press the 4 M3 nuts into the hex traps under the base (and the 1/4"-20 nut into the centre pocket if you plan to use a mount).

2. Optional: drill the antenna marks, insert the light-pipe filament, stick on the rubber feet.

3. Lay the Coralboard on the four standoffs. Connect the camera ribbon or the DSI ribbon now.

4. Put the lid on (a tongue aligns it) and drive the 4 M3 × 16 screws in from the top. They clamp lid, board and base together.

5. Cam lid: screw the mast onto the lid (2 × M3 × 10), thread the ribbon through the slot, fix the camera in the cradle (4 × M2), slide the cradle into the fork and drive the 2 pivot screws (M3 × 10) until the head holds its angle.

6. Mounts: screw the base straight onto a tripod, hang it on two wall screws (keyholes, I/O facing down), or bolt on the VESA plate or DIN clip with the 1/4"-20 thumbscrew.

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Compatibility notes

- Made for the Synaptics Coralboard SL (73 × 58 mm PCB, M3 holes 65 × 48 mm).

- Camera head: OV5647 / Raspberry-Pi-style camera boards (25 × 24 mm, holes 21 × 12.5 mm).

- The Google I/O-edition Sensor HAT has no public CAD, so its fit has not been verified. The Dev lid leaves the mikroBUS sockets fully open.

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Images are Cycles renders of the actual print files.

Not affiliated with Google, Coral or Synaptics. Coral and Coralboard are trademarks of their respective owners