Semi-working Iron Man suit

Advacnded action suit mark 2!

I'm kidding...

No, before you say anything, I'm not intending on making anything at all like what that was supposed to be. This isn't intended to be a mega awesome military worthy battle suit with gadgets and can fly (like, you know, Iron Man). What I'm trying to make is basically an armoured exoskeleton. Still sounds ridiculous? Well, ok, let me clarify. When I say armoured, I don't mean like Iron Man. It's not intended to be bullet proof or anything like that. Really, what I mean is covered, like the difference between C3PO in The Phantom Menace and in the following films. That's what I mean when I say "armoured." However, I am planning on using real metal (aluminium, to be precise). I've currently got enough for the front half of the torso, in the form of uneven rectangles (which I got from about 10 hard drives).

Now onto the exoskeleton. This is simply meant to work. It's not meant to be Iron Man level strength on anything close to that, obviously. It's simply meant to work, and as long as the mechanics and electronics work at all, it will increase my strength, however slightly. To put it simply, (using an example of just how one arm is going to work) there will be several motors along my upper arm, attached to a wire which is attached to the base(ish) of my forearm. The motors will pull the wire, thus pulling the forearm, just like how a muscle works.

Now I bet you're wondering how I'm going to actually control the exoskeleton. That's quite simple. There's going to be a pressure switch on the forearm, so when I push against the inside of the suit, the circuit will be completed and current goes to the motors, therefore pulling the forearm, helping me. However, I'm going to have some padding over the pressure switch, so it'll only be activated when I press enough, meaning I'll be able to move my arm freely without the motors activating. Only when I meet with resistance will the motors activate, meaning I'll only get help from them when I actually need it. I also might have it so that the more I press, the more electricity goes to the motors. But that might be a little complicated to do, so I certainly won't do that for the first prototype.

The good thing about this is, even if the motors are really weak, they will still increase my strength. You see, they won't be taking over from my strength. They'll be helping me, so it will be a matter of my strength + the strength of the motors, regardless of how weak they are.

However, of course, I want the exoskeleton to be reasonably strong. Not military-esque exoskeleton strong, obviously. But just powerful enough so I could happily say "yes, I built a working exoskeleton!"

So, does anyone have any suggestions for motors I could use? They need to be powerful rather than fast, of course, but they also need to be cheap. Seriously, I'm a major cheapskate. Probably one of the biggest on this site. Also, I'd appreciate it if someone could think of gadgets I could take motors from, rather than just buying them separately. For instance, to get the two motors for my web shooters, I took apart two remote control cars I already had from years ago, so that cost me nothing. And I've also taken apart motors from dead hard drives.

But if you can't think of anything like that, it doesn't matter. As long as the motors are quite cheap, I'm happy.

I'm sorry but to be realistic ,you 'd have to spend a very large amount of money on this project. The exo-skeleton, has to be strong enough to support all the electronics ,motor's, controller's, power supplies etc plus your own body weight to start then plus the weight of the armour. Even with all the hi-tech materials you have available today , you could never build one on a small budget ! Even the robots and suits built by Stan Winston's Studios cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Build a foam replica - yes by all means maybe for appx $1000 with servos etc to make it all 'functional' , but it, it like everything else is a SPFX illusion.

I think you might have misunderstood. I'm going to be holding the weight of the exoskeleton and armour. You read how it's going to work, didn't you? The motors will only activate when I need them to (i.e. when my arm meets beyond a certain amount of resistance). They aren't going to be moving the whole suit - I am. The motors are just there to kick in when they are needed, which will be determined by the pressure switch on the inside of the arm. The weight of the suit itself is for my own body to handle, not the exoskeleton.

As far as I can see, the only problem is the expense of the motors. I could make a prototype of the arm to show the mechanics of it work. The only difference between that and the final arm would pretty much just be the power and amount of motors.

Dude thats an awesome idea, i always had a theory if someone printed the movie cgi suits they could be functional if you added the electronics / robotics. But as for motors and stuff maybe try ebay? there could be some cheap motors? NEW 28BYJ 48 Gear Stepper Motor DC 5V 4 Phase 5 Wire Reduction Step FOR Arduino | eBay


but sounds very intriguing !! good luck mate =)

I think it's you that misunderstand , if you know anything about engineering and physics , to work the exo skeleton has to be a complete suit, so all the motors have to have a physical torc to move piece A , B , C etc etc to move and walk you would have to replicate each muscle zone in the body each with a power source, each with a torc motor each covered with an armour plate ( more weight). the exo has to hold the weight of all the ancilllary equipment and then in theory you hold the exo, I completely understand the process and what's involved as my cousin builds prosthetic arms & legs for amputees etc with exactly what you are suggesting, but more so, sensors that trigger from nerve impulses, to drive motor servo 'muscles' . If I explain - think of it this way , lets say you're fairly well build say 12 to 14 stone, and have good body mass , you could wear just a suit of armour like a knight in the olden days of say arround 45lb to 65lb with the mail undersuit say about 75lb to 80 lb ( equates to what weight the exo could be) unless you are very strong indeed and completely fit , you could not carry this weight for any length of time, to build what you are proposing limits you to "weight carried " you couldn't mount a horse wearing a typical suit of armour you'd have to have had trained - just like a knight until you could wear the suit - like ordinary clothes . if you fell over you would not or will not be able to get up and if you try to move, physics dictate - you have to move - then the mechanics -then the suit. So unless you restrict all physical movement to an absolute minumum , a practical armoured exo suit is not a viable proposition, otherwise every army in the world would have them and it's funny nobody has !! There are suits in development - you can search the net and you'll find then , but they are all very heavy and extremely expensive! If you don't believe me, make a suit of armour first, matching the weight you expect your final suit to be - put it on and try to play a game of football, get someone to film it - If you last more than 10 minutes on the time frame index from the film - I'll give you a $1000 dollars for you're fund !!

I don't claim to be an expert on these things or even have any experience but I for one, don't see why it wouldn't be possible to do what he is suggesting. This wouldn't be the first Iron man made out of aluminum on here and I haven't heard anyone raise any objections about the others based on weight (for the one I saw the main the concern was the sharp edges). His suit doesn't have to weigh 75-80 lbs. Yea it will be heavier than a foam suit and maybe even a solid cast suit but that doesn't mean its impossible.


Also, he said it isn't supposed to be 'military grade' or anything. Just an aluminum suit with motors in it. The weight added by the electronics would be negligible with the exception of the power source(s) and the motors. Also, I doubt ANY of the cast suits on here could play football for 10 min! Probably half of the foam ones couldn't either! It doesn't have to be a fully functioning armor, just an aluminum prop with a different take on the gadgets he wants to add.

My only issue would be programing the motors. How do you intend to get the motors to be able to move to varying angles? Like I said I have never used motors but are they like servos where they only move to a predetermined angle? Because if so then the suit wouldn't be able to differentiate between you trying to raise your hand to your chest and you trying to raise your hand above your head for example. Could put undue strain on the motors

Propsjonnyb said:

I think it's you that misunderstand , if you know anything about engineering and physics , to work the exo skeleton has to be a complete suit, so all the motors have to have a physical torc to move piece A , B , C etc etc to move and walk you would have to replicate each muscle zone in the body each with a power source, each with a torc motor each covered with an armour plate ( more weight). the exo has to hold the weight of all the ancilllary equipment and then in theory you hold the exo, I completely understand the process and what's involved as my cousin builds prosthetic arms & legs for amputees etc with exactly what you are suggesting, but more so, sensors that trigger from nerve impulses, to drive motor servo 'muscles' . If I explain - think of it this way , lets say you're fairly well build say 12 to 14 stone, and have good body mass , you could wear just a suit of armour like a knight in the olden days of say arround 45lb to 65lb with the mail undersuit say about 75lb to 80 lb ( equates to what weight the exo could be) unless you are very strong indeed and completely fit , you could not carry this weight for any length of time, to build what you are proposing limits you to "weight carried " you couldn't mount a horse wearing a typical suit of armour you'd have to have had trained - just like a knight until you could wear the suit - like ordinary clothes . if you fell over you would not or will not be able to get up and if you try to move, physics dictate - you have to move - then the mechanics -then the suit. So unless you restrict all physical movement to an absolute minumum , a practical armoured exo suit is not a viable proposition, otherwise every army in the world would have them and it's funny nobody has !! There are suits in development - you can search the net and you'll find then , but they are all very heavy and extremely expensive! If you don't believe me, make a suit of armour first, matching the weight you expect your final suit to be - put it on and try to play a game of football, get someone to film it - If you last more than 10 minutes on the time frame index from the film - I'll give you a $1000 dollars for you're fund !!

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Ooooh, ok. So are you basically just saying the suit, when all is said and done, will be too heavy for me to move myself?

Well in that case, we'll see (since I'm most definitely going to try, whether or not it's likely to work). But I can't imagine it being that heavy. Let's say I have 5 motors on each arm (3 along the outside and two along the inside of my upper arm). That's fine. The batteries will add quite a bit of weight to that, but certainly not too much for one arm to cope with. The metal isn't that heavy either.

Maybe you're imagining it being more complicated than it's actually going to be, so you're thinking there'll be more components than I've described, but I really can't imagine it being too heavy for me to walk around in. But if you like, I'll tape all the components together, attach them to my arm and see what it's like.

And for the torso - well that's mainly just the metal. There will be some motors around the shoulders and hips, and of course the batteries, but that certainly won't be much heavier than a heavy backpack.

My comments were not meant disrespectfully, but even if you made it out of aluminium, it would be to heavy to wear and move about in!
The reason being you muscles would have to adjust and acclimatise , just as the knights of old did , I've worn myself a fibreglass Storm Troopers outfit, about 35 lbs weight and I could not wear it for any more than five or six hours and boy did I sweat buckets and lost half a stone doing so !! , I couldn't move for days afterwards muscle ache - until I loosened up, the suit as you described I estimate will weigh in over 85lbs plus - I don't doubt a second you could build it - it's possible - I have to agree , it's actually wearing it that 'll be the problem, and again this is not meant disrespectfully , but you must think about kinetic mass - weight distribution and more .
Also please do tape the components to your arm, and if you can keep your arm outstretched, with your hand at shoulder height, for more than five minutes , you may have a chance . I will watch and wait with interest

I say go for it, the worse that happens is that it doesn't work and you learn a thing or two in the making process.

You could use motors from cordless drills. Decent enough torque that they get used is garage built robots all the time. And also fairly cheap, especially if you can pick them up second hand.

Cool idea but I think Propsjonnyb has a point. Those motors will have to have alot of torque or else it will be useless and burn up. And probly pricey. Somthing mayb to consider the use some sort of hydraulics system Like pistons would be better IMO, good luck n i'll b checking out yr progress

Unfortunately, he'll hit the same problem with hydralic's he'll need a vessel to hold the fluid and a distribution system to each joint area and a mechanism as described to deliver, which will all add extra weight all covered in armour !! Weight factor again !!

ya must not know how hydraulics work my friend With the weight factor Thats where the hyraulics come in, not only to help increase strength but help his mobility that he will not even feel the weight. So sorry ya wrong on this one cuz is already being applied in robotics. And heres a simple diagram of how hyrdaulics work. He can use a micro pump, small resevoir if ya ever worked in vehicles specifically hydraulic brakes you would know they come in tons of different sizes, small lines that feed each cylinder from pump and resevoir. Small cylinders at each joint, Small power supply. The pump is basically a booster pump, he would just apply little force and the pump will do all the work. Heck I wanna build one now. Lol maybe later

I love Calebxy's threads because he always gets people thinking outside the box It will be neat to see where his passion takes him when he also has the money and education to throw behind it

Criticism vs Constructive Criticism

I understand what you are trying to accomplish, not a 'real' iron man, just a suit that is fully functioning as a costume suit? Am I correct?

If so, then it shouldn't be =too= hard to make.... just a lot of time, money, and knowledge that I have no help with to you

You probably will have problems with the muscle functions being proportionate and en case able, being that hydraulics and gears are very large, and unless you really are a 3d CAD designer willing to 3D Print hundreds of componants to make it happen, it probably will take after the Iron Monger from Iron Man than say any of the modern Iron man designs.

I hope you don't take this as criticism, I hope you are able to make what you want (that's all we on this forum are doing ). Just be realistic, detailed, and understanding of what it's going to take. First you will need to make a tech suit (think Iron Man, where Tony built the frames with all of the wires protruding in all directions) THEN after that, come up with a shell that would encase that.

I wish the best of luck to you.

-The Armorer.

P.s. It might be helpful to ask any of the Iron Man cosplayers on how their movement is, and what would be dificult movement wise for your suit, i.e. you don' want to puncture a lung if you fell on something....

Hydraulics large? yes and no, Hydraulic systems can be made in any size ranging from very small to gigantic. ok class is over lol goodluck on yr build man

Docholiday78 , I agree with you it possible , but he's talking about replicating every muscle group in the entire body, in the suit mounted on the exo . each however , small they are must be able to provide the torc to make the suit move all would have to be computer controlled , it all adds up in weight and he has to fit it all in a suit, I really do wish him well , but simple physics will make it almost impossible . it would have to be the lightest, strongest , most advance electronics etc., and even then I can't see anyone making it, not on a small budget , unlimited funds - maybe ??

Propsjonnyb said:

My comments were not meant disrespectfully, but even if you made it out of aluminium, it would be to heavy to wear and move about in!
The reason being you muscles would have to adjust and acclimatise , just as the knights of old did , I've worn myself a fibreglass Storm Troopers outfit, about 35 lbs weight and I could not wear it for any more than five or six hours and boy did I sweat buckets and lost half a stone doing so !! , I couldn't move for days afterwards muscle ache - until I loosened up, the suit as you described I estimate will weigh in over 85lbs plus - I don't doubt a second you could build it - it's possible - I have to agree , it's actually wearing it that 'll be the problem, and again this is not meant disrespectfully , but you must think about kinetic mass - weight distribution and more .
Also please do tape the components to your arm, and if you can keep your arm outstretched, with your hand at shoulder height, for more than five minutes , you may have a chance . I will watch and wait with interest

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Oh, don't worry, and sorry if I sounded defensive. Yes, I'll do that test, and also I'll do some calculations to work out how much the whole thing should weigh in total.

Catavarie said:

I say go for it, the worse that happens is that it doesn't work and you learn a thing or two in the making process.

You could use motors from cordless drills. Decent enough torque that they get used is garage built robots all the time. And also fairly cheap, especially if you can pick them up second hand.

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You and I have very different opinions of cheap. I did mean it in the first post when I said I was a major cheapskate. The drills I found were virtually all around £20 at cheapest, which, in my mind, is not cheap at all. Though maybe I'm just not looking hard enough. But you see, I have a total of about £80, with virtually no income (just the odd £10 from grandparents every now and then). So I spend money extremely conservatively.

docholiday78: That may well be a good idea, but surely decently powerful hydraulics would be expensive? And I would have thought motors would be simpler to use (especially since I already have a bit of experience with them). But I'll bear that in mind if this doesn't work well enough.

faille: Good to know. I do hope other people aren't getting tired of me and my outlandish projects. And thanks.

The Armorer: Thank you for the advice, and I'll definitely take it on board. And just to be completely clear, I'm trying to build a covered, working exoskeleton. The exoskeleton is not meant to be military grade or anything close to that. Just a working exoskeleton.

Propsjonnyb: For one thing, I'm not going to replicate every muscle group in the body. Just the major ones. For instance, I'm not going to bother about the fingers, because they're too small, but I will do the wrists. That's the limit of how small I'm going to go with the joints.

Also, the motors aren't going to be computer controlled. They will "know" when to activate because they'll only activate when their circuit is complete, and that will only happen when I'm pushing hard against the inside of the suit, and I'll only be pushing hard against the inside of the suit when I meet with resistance (therefore meaning I require the help of the exoskeleton). And when I'm not pressing hard against the inside of the suit, the motors won't have electricity going to them. It's literally that simple.

Hey mate, Have a read of this, may be of some help? cheers David

Iron Man 3: The Trixters Behind Tony Stark's Shiny New Armor - Creative COW

Then you really will have to watch the weight, if you have no compensation of movement, Newtons Third Law comes into play , and you have to have some form of feedback - if you let me know how thick you expect the armour to be, and what kind of exo ( again size and weight) I can calculate surface area given you let me have also your height and weight and your current Body Mass Index . You might want to check out X-robots pages, posts and video's he's made an exo frame to hold the foam suit he's building, it has no motors/servos since it's mostly foam and the whole only weights a couple of pounds at most.

This sounds really cool I'm sure you have already seen it but there is a National Geographic series on Netflix I believe it is called "Super Human Me" all on exocosketlens and different types of robotics might be worth checking out!